Victoria Pendleton

 

15th of March, 2006; By Larry Hickmott

Home Nations for Commonwealth Games

 

 

You wouldn't guess it from her relaxed, chatty manner, but world champion track cyclist Victoria Pendleton admits to feeling a bit of pressure as she prepares to peddle for Commonwealth gold in Melbourne.

The 25-year-old from Stotfold in Hertfordshire, became world sprint champion in Los Angeles last year and competes in Melbourne as one of the favourites for a medal in the women's sprint and 500m time trial events. She'll be going for a medal in the time trial on Thursday (16 March) and in the sprint two days later.

"This is my first major championships as a world champion so there is a bit of weight on my shoulders," says the 12-time national champion. "People expect results here.

"The world title was a confidence booster really though. The sprint is like one-to-one combat on the track so you have to be confident going in. Without that you've got no chance." World Sprint champion for Women, Victoria Pendleton comes into the Commonwealth Games though a different athlete to the one who rode in Manchester 2002.

"In 2002, I was dropped in at the deep end and it was a very nerve wracking experience, all very new to me and I didn't really feel like I belonged there or warrant a place on the team. So its really nice to come here after I have learnt a lot and can come here and enjoy the experience."

The two events that Victoria will do are the 500 metre TT and the Sprint. Of the two, she admits the Sprint is the favoured event and although she has done some work for the 500, there hasn't been a great deal of work for it as its not an Olympic event anymore. So the Sprint is the real deal and asked if she still thinks about the treatment she got at the hands of Kerrie Meares back at Manchester 2003, Victoria replied ?

"To be honest, its well and truly gone. I was a very inexperienced rider and at the end of the day, it didn't affect the result. It wasn't as if I was going to beat Anna or Kerrie in my first competition ever. Its just one of the learning experiences I have had over the years to learn from."

Her preparation for Melbourne 2006 didn't start well as she got a little ill prior to leaving for Australia and she had to delay her trip by a few weeks. "It was okay coming out late" she explained. "I missed riding the Grand Prix but to be honest my form has been pretty good so it hasn't had too much of an effect on my me."

Victoria certainly looked like she was hitting the numbers in training wearing the red and white of Team England. Same race, different outfit as she put it and this time, unlike Athens, she has come into the event with a view to enjoy her racing.

"In Athens I didn't enjoy it, I was too caught up into feeling nervous and anxious and the whole experience was a big shock to the system because I hadn't quite done anything like that before. In Manchester, it was home and we were only there for a couple of days so I have learnt a lot from Athens and have a different approach now."

Her victory at the World Championships and at the World Cup event in her home town of Manchester in December has made all the difference, and now Pendleton has became a figurehead for Team England's women cyclists.

"There hasn't been much focus on the women before," she says. "There are few more coming through in the Olympic development programme and the talent team. I think I've opened the doors a bit."

It's a position Pendleton finds "kind of weird". As a teenager she never even imagined she could be a full-time athlete, never mind a world champion and emerging role model for women cyclists.

"I never thought I was athlete material," she said. "Role models are important. People like Kelly Holmes can make all the difference." Come Saturday Pendleton could be feeling something "like that" herself. For women's cycling, she could be the difference and we wish her lots of luck as she looks to spearhead the English challenge at the Commonwealth Games here in Melbourne.