Pendleton to race Melbourne track world cup

Great Britain's Pendleton will hit Hisense Arena in pursuit of all-important early qualification points for the London Olympic Games.

Pendleton, the 2008 Olympic sprint champion will be aiming to emulate the efforts of countryman Sir Chris Hoy who won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics when she lines up at her home Games in 2012.

Hoy was announced for the Melbourne Track World Cup last week.

Despite her dominance in the sprint, 30-year-old won’t have it all her own way in Melbourne or in the lead up to the London Olympics with a strong contingent of female sprinters hot on her heels.

Along with current keirin world champion Simona Krupeckaite, there will be the 2004 500m time trial Olympic champion and 2008 sprint silver medalist Anna Meares of Australia, Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Shuang Guo (CHN) and French duo Sandie Clair and Clara Sanchez.

Meares, who will contest the 500m time trial, individual sprint and keirin events in Melbourne, is confident the world is making inroads to the dominance of Pendleton.

“Vicky’s favourite event is the individual sprint and she has dominated the competition over the last five years winning multiple world championships. She is extremely quick like all the top Great Britain riders and the crowd really will be watching the world’s best do what they do best,” Meares said.

“But the world is trying to beat Vicky and I think the gap is closing. I certainly feel like the gap is closing.

“It will be really interesting to see the match ups that come out of the qualification seeding. The way it has gone in the past, I only lined up against her once in two years in the lead up to Beijing.”

Pendleton must feel them coming, with the British star commenting in recent weeks on the nightmares and pressures she faces in anticipation of the expectant home crowd in London.

“Dreaming of being chased by some killer is normal for me,” Pendleton told the Guardian newspaper.

“The fact that I'm already having all these bad dreams about being chased is a bit worrying. I'm always being chased by a monster. Sometimes the monster is a killer or a murderer. It doesn't really matter because I know exactly what that monster is as it hunts me down. The monster's got a big 2012 written all over it."

The Track World Cup is ranked only behind the Olympics and World Championships in importance on the track cycling calendar and round one in Melbourne is the first round to offer points towards qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The Melbourne round of the UCI Track World Cup runs from from Thursday, 2 to Saturday, 4 December.