The former Olympic cycling champion has the Cheltenham Festival in her sights as she explains how horse racing is stimulating her competitive drive againIt is still dark at 7.15 on a December morning as Victoria Pendleton opens the boot of her car and drapes a saddle over her left shoulder while her factual hand scoops up the boots and racing helmet which define her changed life. Pendleton is full of fizz and warmth as she heads to the stables to start work at Alan and Lawney Hill’s racing yard in Oxfordshire. The double Olympic gold medal winner,and nine-times world champion sprint cyclist, chats fortunately as she brushes and tacks up a horse in preparation for the first of two work sessions. We are a long way from the gleaming velodromes where we beget met so often in the past. In such a tranquil setting we also feel removed from the bone-breaking dangers of jump racing.
It is only later, or as other horses move across the yard,that there is a sudden quickening of the senses. Pendleton climbs on to a rippling racehorse. The sound of hooves gathering pace beneath a grey winter sky brings home that this is very genuine.
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Source: theguardian.com