Pendleton on cautious path for Kenny tilt at world title

From high of Olympics to grind of earning Hong Kong medal

Track cyclist-turned-jockey Victoria Pendleton has urged caution in Laura Kenny’s attempt to claim a world crown.

Pendleton is the only Olympic champion track cyclist to have successfully retained a world title the following year.

Kenny could try to emulate the feat, but recently suffered a hamstring injury which raises doubt about her participation in April’s track world championships in Hong Kong.

Pendleton said: “It’s one of the hardest things to do as an athlete, just to stop and give yourself time.

“The easiest thing to do is just to crack on regardless and just do what you know.

“She’s young, she’s got plenty of time, she’s got plenty more world titles.

“If she’s got an injury, she should definitely look after her body, because it’s the tool of her trade.”

Pendleton knows what it takes to keep the revolutions whirring. After winning the world sprint title in Manchester in 2008, she won a first Olympic gold in what was then the only event available to her at the Beijing Games.

Pendleton kept on riding as others took lengthy breaks and claimed an emotional world sprint title win in Pruszkow in 2009.

“That’s the only thing to my name that no-one else has done yet, and Chris Hoy hasn’t done,” added Pendleton as Hoy missed Pruszkow with a hip injury.

“I think I was a bit crazy to do it, but I did it all the same.

“It was weird. Because it’s all I knew, training and preparing for competitions. It seemed only natural to try to do it.

“I knew it hadn’t been done before and I thought I would give it a whirl.

“It was really tough. I didn’t really give myself much of a break. It was quite a tall order and it’s probably one of the hardest titles I’ve ever won.

“I could perhaps have done with a physical break and an emotional break.”

Pendleton was one of the faces of the London 2012 Games and felt, with the benefit of hindsight, that preparations for the home Olympics might have been easier had she given herself a rest post-Beijing.

She added: “I probably would’ve found the run up to the following Olympics a little bit easier had I allowed myself a tiny bit of space that year, post-Olympics, to regroup and get a fresher mindset to attack the next four years.”

Kenny, nee Trott, won world titles in the omnium and scratch race in London last March and claimed omnium and team pursuit Olympic golds in Rio last August.

The 24-year-old then married Jason Kenny, the six-time Olympic champion who is also deliberating over his participation in Hong Kong.

It could be many of the established cyclists of Britain’s track team take breaks and miss the forthcoming world championships, which come at the start of preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Scotland’s Katie Archibald was the only member of the Olympic team to compete at last November’s Glasgow Track World Cup, where emerging talent showed their potential. Pendleton added: “There’s always young riders coming through. They need the experience and opportunity and only get that once in a blue moon.

“It’s definitely not going to be a weak team in Hong Kong, even if the leading riders don’t go along. There will be plenty of medals won I’m sure.”

“Tall order and it’s probably one of the hardest titles I’ve ever won”

Title-chasing: Cyclist Laura Kenny