Phew! I was thinking it seemed abit odd that people were already presuming she be out before we'd even seen her second dance (which is a second reedeming chance).

You could think of it as research.
Or you could read a review of said book.

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/9/18/...oria-pendleton

100% agree.

She's certainly not the only woman cyclist to have criticisms - Wendy Houvenagel, Lizzie Armiststead & Emma Pooley have all spoken out. And I thought it was terrible the way the coaches treated Jess Varnish straight after their disqualification - it's not like anyone deliberately goes out to get themselves DQ'ed from the Olympics.

You could not make it up some people appear desperate for her to trip up. Very sad in fact pathetic but some things never change.

I thought Wendy was just having a moan after the Olympics, then I read VP's book!
Shane Sutton is virtually pushing Emma out of the door if you read his last interview about her, and Lizzie has had to find yet another new team. Actually, if Lizzie wasn't such a great rider I think she'd be a great Team Director. Maybe even the first female head of British Cycling.
She's an incredibly impressive woman who could be lost to the sport (maybe like Emma) if BC doesn't pull their collective fingers out.

She shouldn't be first out as the GBP may be interested and sympathetic enough to see if she can do a progress upwards for a few weeks. If she can do a nice ballroom without blubbing she'll heft off the bottom spot. Depends how she does though...danger is of course if she ends up in the middle of the table, we all know what tends to happen there especially in the first few weeks.

But I don't think it'll be her to go.

I so agree with you. We know enough now to know that there is a fragile personality in that cyclists body so why they keep dressing her like a gaudy hooker is beyond me. On the line-up night they put her in a ghastly fringed thing that was all glitter and she looked like death, and those pantaloons on Friday, terrible. Wardrobe need to get inside the person and dress her in something that will enhance her self esteem and not make her feel like she is out of her depth on all fronts - which, unfortunately, she is at the moment.

No, I'm not a man. I'm a woman in a very traditionally man's world. I have never seen any evidence that being expected to act like a man is a bad thing. That's what I'm there for. I'm there to do my job, and in doing so prove that I'm capable of everything that they are, and not to whine and cry for special treatment because I have boobs and therefore I need more than they do. I don't.

I still haven't figured out what this being expected to act like a man means except for some vague implication that she's more emotional than they are. That's not because she's a woman, it's because she's an emotional wreck. Plenty of men are emotional wrecks, too.

Cue Moira Ross constructing a VT of Brendan and Victoria in the velodrome

Interesting perspective.

Me- I think its her stress release mechanism- didn't seem to bother anyone but her on the night and if Bruce hadn't gone on about it to start with it might not be so bad.

She puts untold amounts of pressure on herself by the looks of.

Hopefully she won't go out before Johnny or Jerry because at least she appears to have some potential IMO.

Did you read this?

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/9/18/...oria-pendleton

It's a really good review of her book and gives an insight into VP. It won't take long to read.

Tell us what you think afterwards.

I've read some of it before but not all of it. I just read it. My opinion hasn't changed. She complains that her father pushed her too hard, yet if he hadn't, she wouldn't have succeeded. And then she complains that she didn't get attention for long enough after winning in Beijing. If all she's in it for is the attention it's no wonder she's in a mess. And she complains about people's reaction to her and her boyfriend lying and breaking the rules. The same rule exists in many other environments.

It seems a perfectly average tale (for someone in her situation, which is admittedly few people) yet I don't see other successful cyclists constantly complaining in the way that she does.

I'm abou half way through. It is interesting and I must admit I only got it out the library because I'd read it was more than you would expect from a sports autobiography. However, and this is in no way a criticism, she does come across as just a tad poor me, which doesn't sit that well because clearly she is made of stern stuff. And I don't think humour is her strong suit. But an interesting book from a complex character.

She doesn't complain about her Dad pushing her, and thanks him in the book for doing so.
I didn't read it as not having attention, but as not being able to enjoy it for very long.
She and her boyfriend didn't lie. They told Brailsford, Sutton and Peters before they went on a date. They told them to be quiet about it.
You don't often see cyclists complain, as VP didn't when she was racing, because they still have to work in the same place. You can't get a transfer from your national team.

But how is this different from anyone else? Yet everyone else just sucks it up and gets on with it.

I think it may be difficult not to come across as that when you're talking about some of the appalling treatment that you've had, especially when the team knew how fragile she could be.
I've read a few sports autobiogs.but they mostly end up being about what 'the lads' did in a nightclub....this one doesn't..

I don't know if it is different from anyone else. And she did suck it up, for about a decade.

Thank you.

I think it's only fair that each couple has an opportunity to dance both ballroom and latin before being judged for elimination. Personally I think Victoria will be far too poular to go out in Wk 1 and even if in the bottom 2 would be given the benefit of the doubt by the judges....unless her ballroom is equally pants of course.