Cycling - Hoy eases into keirin final

Britain's Chris Hoy acknowledges the crowd after winning his track cycling men's keirin first round heat 1 at the Velodrome during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 7, 2012.

LONDON (Reuters) - Defending champion and overwhelming favourite Chris Hoy of Britain tore the field apart to power into the final of the Olympic keirin on Tuesday.

Hoy, also the world champion in the adrenaline-filled discipline, blazed away from the field with two laps remaining with only Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang and Dutchman Teun Mulder able to follow his lead to also reach the final.

German Maximilian Levy will also be in the final after winning his second-round race ahead of New Zealand's Simon van Velthooven and Australian Shane Perkins.

France's Mickael Bourgain, one of the podium contenders, finished fourth and failed to qualify for the final.

Should he finish on the podium, Hoy will snatch his seventh Games medal but will be ahead of Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins on 'gold difference' as Britain's most decorated Olympian.

Wiggins has four Olympic titles to Hoy's five after the Scot won the team sprint event with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny last Thursday.

The final will be held later on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Mark Meadows)