Sir Chris Hoy issues health update as he reveals he struggled to finish bike ride amid terminal cancer battle

The sports legend, who is the second-most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time, revealed in September 2023 that he had been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. In October 2024, Sir Chris said that doctors had diagnosed his condition as terminal and was given between two and four years to live.

In an interview with The Times, the six-time Olympic gold medal champion said that he has been forced to come to terms with the fact that his body isn’t able to do what it once did. He revealed that in May 2024, he struggled to finish a bike ride in Greece, which took place two months after a round of chemotherapy.

Sir Chris, 49, told the newspaper: "You want to be able to enjoy it, and not just suffer and struggle. But it’s very hilly there and we rode for half an hour uphill from the start and it was obvious to myself that my physical level wasn’t where it was before.

"I wasn’t able to ride and talk going up the hill, and I found it difficult. That was the point where I really understood: I’ve got to reset here and not compare myself to where I used to be."

The athlete added that while he could have “throttled back” his effort and complete the ride comfortably, his competitive spirit continues to power him forward in races. He returned to Greece five months later at which point he was able to ride the terrain much more comfortably.

He said: “It's nice that you can see progress. You assume that everything is heading one way, everything is getting worse, everything is going downhill, and it's not.

“I've been able to get fitter in the last 18 months; post-chemo I've been able to improve.”

It hasn’t stopped the decorated cyclist from taking part in events, with the star most recently seen at the Zwift event in Majorca alongside Mark Cavendish and Russell Downing earlier this month. Sir Chris has been positive in his outlook of his prognosis and has even looked towards cases in the US and Canada of people being diagnosed with the same condition in their 60s and continuing to live on decades later.

He said: “I’m not saying that I’m going to be that person. But once you know something is possible, it’s a way of finding your own hope.”

Three months after the Olympic legend learned of his diagnosis, his wife Sarra revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Sarra told Lorraine Kelly on her daytime show Lorraine: “You just don't sleep, everything is awful.

"It was about trying to control what I could, and I just thought, I can't do anything about cancer, I can't do anything about MS [Multiple Sclerosis], I can't control any of that. What can I do? What can I help? What can I change?"