Vicky Pendleton

A personal hero of mine in the last year or so.

She came from nowhere, she's young, she's a woman in a male dominated sport, and she would kick all our asses with a smile on her face. Having watched this girl race quite a lot in the last year I'm constantly amazed. Track riding, sprints in particular, is in a lot of ways a power sport, and with the men in particular, like tennis, doesn't always rely as much on skill as raw power. As with tennis it is becoming more and more the case that it is far more entertaining to watch the women compete, as the slight lack of pure power makes for a far more interesting tactical and psychological struggle.

Victoria Pendleton has become a master of this, and she will be the first to admit that she is not a natural sprinter, yet is practically unbeatable in the world right now. I think we can all learn something from the dedication and the application of people like this, not just in our working/cycling lives, but in our lives in general.
Ok, gushing over, check out her personal website here.