CYCLIST Victoria Pendleton will go into the World Championships on a high after winning three gold medals – and breaking her own British record. The Mildenhall speed queen struck gold on each of the three days of the World Cup, at Manchester Velodrome. Af

CYCLIST Victoria Pendleton will go into the World Championships on a high after winning three gold medals - and breaking her own

British record.

The Mildenhall speed queen struck gold on each of the three days of the World Cup, at Manchester Velodrome.

After winning the sprint title on Friday, she took the 500m time-trial title in a British record of 34.070 seconds. This beat her previous best of 34.614 and would have won a gold medal at last year's World Championships.

The 26-year-old then defied tired legs to win the keirin on Sunday. The keirin is a tactical race contested over eight laps. Riders follow a motorbike until the final two-and-a-half laps, when there is a sprint to the finish.

Pendleton said: "I'm in the form of my life at the moment. I had a bit of a turbo boost in the sprint, so my training is clearly working.

"My legs just felt so good and I felt so confident. I can't wait for the World Championships to start."

Pendleton has been competing on the world stage since the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and has made substantial progress over the last two years.

She froze on the big stage in her first Olympic Games, in 2004, but bounced back to win the sprint title in the 2005 World Championships and take gold and silver medals at the Commonwealth Games last year.

She said: "When you've had a bit of success, you can see people watching you.

"If I can intimidate my opponents with my performances then that's perfect because that's just what sprinting is all about - it's one-to-one combat.

"But I've certainly got something to live up to now."

The World Championships will take place in Majorca from March 29 until April 1.