161. Victoria Pendleton: Fear and change
About this episode
Victoria Pendleton discusses her career in cycling, her struggles with the sport's culture, and her transition to a new life after retirement.
This week, Robyn and Will are joined by one of British Cycling’s most decorated track riders, Victoria Pendleton. Over a career that spanned more than a decade, Victoria won two Olympic gold medals and one silver, nine World Championships, two European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, although arguably her biggest contribution to cycling was her legacy. Along with Team GB alumni such as Laura Kenny, Joanna Rowsell, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy, Victoria helped inspire a generation of young riders and helped put British cyclists on the map, and propelled cycling as a sport into the British mainstream. However, Victoria’s relationship with cycling hasn’t always been a happy one. She retired after the 2012 Olympics stating she’d achieved everything she set out to do on a bike, only later to reveal that she found the British Cycling programme increasingly difficult to be a part of, and latterly coming out in support of former teammate Jessica Varnish's allegations about the BC culture, which in part led to the resignation of coach Shane Sutton amid wider allegations of sexism and discrimination. In 2015, Victoria switched a bike for a horse, and by 2016 she had completed…
More episodes of Cyclist Magazine Podcast
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Cyclist Magazine Podcast podcast page.