The Europeans in Poland, previously an under-23 and junior competition, is the first qualification event for the London Olympics but for Hoy the world championships next March is his big target for the season. "It wouldn't be sensible to come into a long track season with all guns blazing," Hoy told Reuters in a phone interview before boarding a flight to Warsaw on Monday.

"Last year I made that mistake when I was too enthusiastic at the start and paid the price by the end. "I've taken deliberate steps to make sure that doesn't happen again. "For example, I've been doing long workouts in the gym till much later in my usual build-up schedule, if it was a really big event, I'd have backed off much earlier.

"This time round, I'm going to be slightly cagey," the 34-year-old Scot added. Hoy skipped last month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi to concentrate on the Europeans where he will ride in the sprint events.

"It's basically going to be like a world championships without the Australians," he said. "It's very important to start off for the Olympics on the right foot, and the Europeans are our first step towards qualification for London 2012.

"If we make a strong start, we'll be keeping control of our qualification process and make sure things go the way we plan them right the way through.""We want some solid results, and get some good points. From how I've performed in recent races, I know I'm in good shape and coming into top form, which bodes well," the 10-times world champion said. "But I want to keep that top form for the world championships."