By Tom Degun

chris hoy_25-09-12September 25 - Britain's most decorated Olympian Sir Chris Hoy is set to help spearhead a campaign to promote the sport of track cycling in Glasgow ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the Scottish city.

The 36-year-old cyclist from Edinburgh proved one of the stars of the London 2012 this summer when he claimed two gold medals in the keirin and the team sprint to take his overall Olympic medal haul to six golds and a silver.

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, for which Sir Chris (pictured top) was named the first official ambassador earlier this month, is set to be his last elite competition ever and the velodrome for the competition has been named in his honour.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, which was designed by Ralph Schüermann, is set to open next month and will hold its first ever competition – the UCI Track Cycling World Cup – on November 16-18 this year.

Tickets for the event were snapped up in just 25 minutes when they went on sale last month and following the unprecedented interest, British Cycling has launched a campaign, titled "On Track to Glasgow", to promote the sport.

The campaign will see a series of initiatives around the UCI Track World Cup taking place in November to inspire people in Glasgow to try the sport and Sir Chris admitted he is delighted to be involved.

sir chris_hoy_velodrome_25-09-12The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome will host the UCI Track Cycling World Cup later this year before being used for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

"A Track World Cup sell out in Glasgow is fantastic for the sport and its legacy," he said.

"Following the GB team's outstanding success at London 2012, and building on this legacy to Glasgow and through other British Cycling events taking place in the United Kingdom, I hope we can continue to inspire the next generation of track cyclists.

"Although I won't be competing at the event in November, I'm looking forward to supporting the Glasgow schools legacy programme and I'll be in the Velodrome to cheer on the GB team."

British Cycling has held back a quarter of the seats for the UCI Track World Cup for local schoolchildren to attend, with each school receiving a personal invitation from Sir Chris.

Track riders will also visit select schools across Glasgow to engage children in the sport, while pop up track bikes will also appear over the coming months around Glasgow city centre to give people the chance to try out track cycling.

"With the profile of British Cycling at an all-time high after the Olympics in London, we're delighted that interest has remained high in the sport and the Track World Cup is a sell-out event," said the cycle sport and membership director at British Cycling Jonny Clay.

"We are now focusing on engaging people in Glasgow in track cycling and preparing to deliver a fantastic event for those attending or watching it on the BBC.

"It's an exciting time for British Cycling with major events across the UK taking place including the 2013 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Manchester and we're also bidding for the 2016 Track World Cup Championships in London.

"We're confident we can continue this interest in cycling and we're looking forward to developing further legacy programmes around these events to engage more people in the sport."

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