91Èȱ¬

Sir Chris Hoy believes the introduction of German-born Philip Hindes to the team sprint squad boosts Britain's chances of Olympic track cycling gold.

Hindes raced for Germany as a junior but makes his GB debut at this week's World Championships in Melbourne.

The 19-year-old could fill a gap which has hampered Britain's team sprint medal hopes in recent years.

"He's improving at a rapid rate and if he performs well he could be in the running for the Olympics," said Hoy.

"If [Philip can give us] a good start then with Jason being one of the fastest guys in the world over the second lap, and myself for the third lap, there's a good chance we could challenge for the gold medal."

Ross Edgar and Matt Crampton have been among the names inserted into the 'man one' position in the three-man sprint team since after helping Britain to gold at the Beijing Games four years ago.

Without a world-leading rider at the front to give the team the strongest possible start, Kenny and Hoy are often unable to overhaul more balanced teams such as Germany and France.

"Philip's strength is his acceleration - his start is really fast," Hoy told 91Èȱ¬ Sport.

"He's still off the pace of the best guys in the world, say the times of Jamie Staff at the last Olympics or Germany's Rene Enders at the moment, but not by much.

"The crucial thing is he's improving all the time. The other guys have been around for years and make very small improvements, if at all, whereas he's taking two-tenths off his time every month or so."

Hindes set a junior world record for the standing start lap as a rider for Germany, but will make his senior debut for Britain having switched allegiance. His British father made him eligible.

"You've got to remember his dad's British, it's not as if it's somebody who's visited the country a couple of times or has it on residency," said Hoy.

"He's got a German accent but his humour's pretty British. The regulations are there and if you're eligible, you're eligible. We're of the opinion it's fine and he's going to help the team. He feels British to us now.

"He has been living in Germany all his life, but he's moved across to a completely different lifestyle, staying at the academy in a flat with the rest of the guys, learning to cook for himself. He has English as a second language and it's actually remarkably good.

"He reminds me of when I was younger in the team and everything was new and exciting. It's great fun having him in the team."

Coverage (times BST): Medal sessions live on 91Èȱ¬ Sport website and Red Button from 1000 each day. Highlights on 91Èȱ¬ Two 1430-1700 Sun 8 April. Commentary and updates on 5 live and 5 live sports extra 0500-1400 daily.