Sir Chris Hoy, the six-time Olympic cycling champion, has revealed his cancer is terminal

Hoy, 48, was initially diagnosed with the disease in September of last year before he went public with the news back in February.

But he has now revealed in a UK newspaper interview that a second scan had shown that he had primary cancer in his prostate which had metastasised to his bones and become stage four.

Doctors have told him he has between two and four years to live.

“As unnatural as it feels, this is nature,” he told The Sunday Times. “You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.”

He added that some people have “no chance to say goodbyes or make peace with everything. But I’ve been given enough time.”

Hoy is a six-time Olympic champion having won gold in Athens in 2004 and three times in Beijing four years later before being one of the faces of his home Games in London with two more titles.

Only team-mate Jason Kenny has more Olympic gold medals for Great Britain.

As well as his Olympic success he is also an 11-time world champion with 17 global titles across four disciplines over a glittering career in the velodrome.

Hoy was awarded a knighthood in the 2009 New Year Honours “for services to sport” and has become a regular on television coverage following his retirement in 2013.

Despite the diagnosis Hoy says he is determined to maintain the positive mindset that characterised his sporting career.

“I’m not trying to pretend that every day is amazing,” he said. “But I have genuine moments of joy. I have laughter. I’m not thinking about it all the time. I’m back to my old self.”

(Phil Walter/Getty Images)