Sir Chris Hoy expected to announce retirement from cycling

Great Britain's most successful Olympian Sir Chris Hoy is expected to announce his retirement on Thursday.

The six-time track cycling champion is to hold a news conference in his home city of Edinburgh where it is thought he will make his decision public.

Hoy, 37, who won two gold medals at London 2012, also won 11 world titles.

BBC Scotland is reporting that Hoy will retire immediately and not compete in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

"It doesn't come as a huge surprise, if indeed, he does retire," said BBC Sport cycling reporter Jill Douglas.

"He said after the Olympics he would take some time [to decide his future].

"He's had a long holiday and been busy developing his new bike brand and he will have thought long and hard about any decision he has made."

Hoy claimed his first Olympic gold medal when he won the one kilometre time-trial in the velodrome at Athens in 2004.

Successes in the team sprint, keirin and sprint at the Beijing Games four years later gave him three more gold medals and he was voted the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year before being knighted in the New Year's Honours list.

He then took his tally to a British record six Olympic gold medals by winning the team sprint and keirin at London 2012.

Hoy had the motivation of carrying on until the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with the track cycling taking place at the velodrome which was named after him.

When asked last year about competing in Glasgow, Hoy told BBC Sport: "There's no chance I don't want to do it - the motivation is there and the desire is there.

"It's literally down to whether I can do it or not."

He added: "I wouldn't just want to get on the team to get the tracksuit, turn up and wave to the crowd. I want to go there to win. If I believe I can do that and I'm able to do that then I will be there."

Hoy did not compete at the World Track Championships in Belarus during February 2013.

"He will be 38 when the Commonwealth Games come around and, in all fairness, unless he was going to be up there on the podium he would not want to deny a young rider the opportunity to race," said Douglas.

She added: "People talk about legends of sport and no question Sir Chris Hoy is right up there.

"There is nothing this man has not achieved on the track but, I think more than that, the professionalism and leadership he has brought to British cycling over the past 10-15 years is remarkable and that is what will be missed more than anything.

"I just hope that, if he is announcing his retirement, that he is retained and he is able to share some of the vast experience as well as that leadership with the young riders coming through.

"He is universally respected and I know that he'll want to carry on contributing to the next breed of Chris Hoy's coming through."