Greatness, according to Chris Hoy, comes with longevity and that makes Sir Steve Redgrave an infinitely greater Olympian than Michael Phelps.

Hoy, who in Beijing became the first Briton in 100 years to win three gold medals in one Games, is the kind of personality who takes little time to come back down to earth, and no matter how much greatness we now lay at the cyclist's door, he does not really think he belongs in the same sentence as Phelps, let alone Redgrave.

We are at the stage of the Games when we are playing a kind of Olympic Top Trumps. Does Phelps beat Bolt? Does Adlington beat Ainslie? This, yesterday, was an amusing topic to discuss with Hoy because apparently he does not believe he should get a mention at all.

He tells a story about one of his early encounters with fame: his hero when he was a boy was Gavin Hastings, but when he was at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne two years ago and met the former Scotland rugby union full back, it was Hastings's son who asked him for his autograph. “I thought, this is the weirdest thing,” he said. Meanwhile, from back in Edinburgh, he has received a text from a friend saying that he overheard two tramps discussing last Saturday's final of the keirin.

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“I still don't think you can compare a multi-gold medallist at one Games with an athlete who can win at Olympics after Olympics after Olympics,” Hoy said. “To me, comparing Steve Redgrave to Michael Phelps, I don't think there's any contest. Phelps is an amazing athlete, but to do what Redgrave did [win gold medals at five consecutive Games from 1984 to 2000], to maintain that focus and drive and stay at the top, is incredible.

“So, it's hugely flattering to be mentioned with those guys, but I don't see myself with that status yet at all. It would take at least another gold medal in London to even start being in that kind of bracket.”

Yet while Hoy may be a reluctant hero, he has high ideals as to what his fame may achieve. “I would take it as a sincere compliment that someone would want to go out and ride their bike or take up cycling - young kids who've seen me on TV and maybe think, ‘I fancy doing that,'” he said.

Another legacy would be to save the Meadowbank Velodrome in Edinburgh where he spent much of his youth learning his trade. The velodrome was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games and is set to be demolished. “I don't know if three golds is enough to save it,” Hoy said. “That facility is on its last legs, so obviously it needs to be replaced. I'd love to think that my actions could lead to a facility being saved in Scotland. But I can say categorically that I wouldn't be here right now if the Meadowbank Velodrome didn't exist in the first place.”

But Hoy would like his influence to stretch far beyond Meadowbank. “I would like my sport to be more widely recognised,” he said. “I would like to have more kids given the opportunity to try it out. If you've only got two or three facilities around the country, how can you expect kids to ride it apart from the lucky ones whose school is near by?

“We need to encourage kids to ride bikes, to make it safer to ride bikes, to have meaningful bike lanes, not just a couple of painted lines on the side of the road with big gutters and cars ramming you into the pavement. That would bring health spin-offs, reduction of pollution, plus you might get one or two decent athletes, too.”