Six-time Olympic champion Chris Hoy is to hold a media conference in his home city of Edinburgh on Thursday where he is expected to announce his retirement.

Hoy has spent the period post-London 2012 deliberating over his future, with the 2014 Commonwealths in Glasgow a major carrot.

The Scot will be 38 by the time competition commences at the Chris Hoy Velodrome.

Privately figures in British Cycling have known for some time that Hoy, who won his first Olympic gold in Athens in 2004, is preparing to retire after four Olympic Games and a British record six gold medals, including two in the capital last August and three in Beijing in 2008.

Hoy has already prepared for life beyond competitive action and late last year announced he would be releasing a brand of bicycles bearing his name.

It is not just in the Olympics where Hoy has triumphed, but his success in that arena propelled him to super-stardom.

He has 10 world titles to his name, the first coming in 2002, when he also won Commonwealth gold, in Manchester.

Hoy added the Olympic title when he won the one-kilometre time-trial title in Greece nine years ago, succeeding fellow Briton Jason Queally as champion.

The event was removed from the Games soon afterwards, though, and Hoy had to reinvent himself.

He did so with aplomb, winning sprint, Keirin and team sprint titles at the 2008 Olympics.

The hat-trick saw Hoy become the first Briton in 100 years – since swimmer Henry Taylor in 1908 – to win three gold medals at one Games and saw him become the most successful British cyclist of all time.