Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton talks about the tensions that affected her Olympic cycling performance

VICTORIA PENDLETON is walking around her living room. She’s practising her footwork with the conscientious attention you’d expect of a two-time Olympic gold medallist.

But these aren’t sporting moves. She’s walking in high-heeled shoes, one of the many small pleasures she’s relishing since she stepped off the winner’s podium and retired from cycling.

‘‘I’ve never been allowed to wear them before because I had to be so careful about not damaging my ankles, which obviously could have affected my performance,” she says. ‘‘So I’ve only really worn them to pose at events or photo shoots and my evenings out have been pretty limited because of training. Now I’m wearing them whenever I want.’’ Pendleton, with her model looks – she’s a petite 5ft 5in and has a beautiful mane of chestnut hair – has always been one of the most glamorous girls on Team GB, and clearly she’s taking every opportunity to dress up now she no longer has to spend her days in tracksuits.

That wardrobe and lifestyle liberation began in August after the London Games, where the world champion cyclist won gold and silver medals and bade farewell to a sport which has commanded and shaped her life since she took it up competitively at the age of nine.

IT’S been a long, tough journey to success which has tested Pendleton, 31, to the limit, as she’s recently revealed in her new book, Between The Lines: My Autobiography. She reportedly describes how the pressure of cycling at a top level drove her to self-harm, cutting herself with a knife.

Today, she sums up her feeling at ending the punishing physical training and shedding the mental stresses as “indescribable relief”. ‘‘I haven’t felt this relaxed and happy in ages,’’ she says. ‘‘There’s always been so much expectation on me that every time I stepped on a bike that I would win, which is draining.”

She’s engagingly effervescent, refreshingly honest and patently madly in love with her Australian fiance, Scott Gardner. But their partnership caused friction and tension with athletes and staff among Team GB.

Gardner, 36, initially had to quit his job as the cycling team’s sports scientist but returned later as her personal coach.

Pendleton, who had ambitions to become the first woman athlete to gain three golds at the Olympics, believes the furore and its aftermath helped to rob her of that prize.

‘‘I think it affected my chances. It did feel as though by falling in love we’d committed a crime and at times it made me feel very isolated,’’ she says. ‘‘There were days when I dreaded going to work. Certain people didn’t take into account how I was feeling because their opinions were more important.”

Despite the problems as well as the sacrifices made over the years to achieve her success, she insists it was all worth it.

“I’ve experienced a lot of negativity. Over the years, I was told I wouldn’t succeed in competitive cycling because I was too small, not psychologically strong enough, too feminine, or too emotional because I’ve cried after races and showed my disappointment at failures. Of course, I’d love to be dark and mysterious, but that’s just not me.”

Her cycling days are not over, she reveals, but now she will ride for pleasure and is currently encouraging others to get on their bikes as ambassador of a new Hovis campaign. It’s launched a website with 16 suggested cycle routes, expert tips from her, and a selection of sandwich recipes.

‘‘I do hope to inspire people with the joy of cycling,’’ she says. ‘‘Many people own bikes, but all too often they are just left in a shed or garage gathering dust. It’s wonderful that the Olympics has got more people motivated to cycle and I want to help boost that even further.”

‘‘I can’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t cycle, it’s part of my life, although now it will be for fun in the countryside near our home.’’

  •  For cycle maps, recipes and tips from Victoria Pendleton, visit hoviscyclemaps.com