Victoria Pendleton has a sharp warning for drivers who tear past cyclists at close quarters - watch out, you might kill a British Olympic medallist. Pendleton, who won gold at Beijing in the women's sprint, is campaigning to get more of us cycling on the street. But driver awareness is key, she says.

For starters, many motorists could at least stop being offensive as well as dangerous, says Pendleton, 27, who is fronting the Sky Sports London Freewheel next weekend, when the capital's roads are closed to all but cyclists. “I have to train on the road daily. It's crucial for endurance work. But the abuse I get from drivers ... 'Get of the effing road', and 'Buy an effing car', are typical. I'm usually dressed in the Team GB kit, but drivers take no notice of that.” Although she's incensed and talking even faster than usual, Pendleton is too head-girlish to say the “F-word”. She really does say “effing”. But this slim, smartly attractive woman can get angry, so watch out.

“It does my head in that people have no regard for my safety. If someone cuts me up, I will sometimes catch up and have a go at them. It's not like their journeys are so important. They're usually off to the shops to waste some more money. Honestly, what's a few seconds in their pointless life for the sake of not killing me?”

Her fears are sadly justified. Her British teammate and fellow Manchester cyclist, Emma Davies-Jones, was left with a broken back after being knocked off her bike on the way to train at the city's Velodrome in 2005. Despite the injury and having to take painkillers constantly, she recovered sufficiently to win bronze in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. But before the crash she had been tipped for gold.

Pendleton's solution is to get more bikes on the streets. “If that happened, there would be fewer cars and it would be better for everyone.You're keeping fit, looking after your body and reducing pollution. Cycling should not be a crime - there's that dumb Clarkson mentality that cars just rule. In your driving test, you should be put on a stationary bike and have a car whizz past you close at 50mph. It's terrifying, even if you have to experience it every day.”

Her forthrightness, steady green-eyed gaze and (car drivers aside) cheery manner reflect a newfound confidence that got her past her abject failure to perform at the Athens Olympics and through the mounting pressure at Beijing where she, the last Team GB cycling star to compete, had to sit while less hotly tipped teammates gain podium places.

“I spent five days solid in the village watching the TV with very sporadic commentary seeing everyone win medals ... which was lovely, but when you've been constantly highlighted as a 'golden girl', it's hard,” she says. “I definitely had to get one, to be part of the team, to fulfil part of the dream and not disappoint the nation. But you can't guarantee that on the day. Things can just go wrong. But a lot of people think you should be a robot.”

Much of the change, she acknowledges, is down to the team's psychologist, Steve Peters. “After Athens I got a lot of criticism about being too weak mentally and physically. As a completely unconfident female ditherer, it was hurtful,” she says. “Steve could see I was deeply unhappy and unsatisfied with my performance, because I was not doing it for the right reasons. This was more about my life, so the work with Steve was more psychiatry than sports psychology. I had some real bizarre perspective on what I was and who I was in my sport. I felt my life depended on cycling and my results. He taught me to care less about other people and more about myself. People say it's surprising about how much happier and more confident I am.

“Steve thought that I was doing the cycling for other people. It was an awful pressure because it was not internal, it was something external, and that's never going to be satisfying. It's just a bad habit of thought that I picked up. I just wanted to please Mum and Dad.

“My twin brother had leukaemia when we were 4, and I lived with my grandparents while he was in hospital because Mum had to spend a lot of time visiting him and staying over. I was very anxious. The experience left me wanting to be a perfect daughter. I have never been a rebel. I just tried my hardest to be super-good.”

Unleashing her competitive streak

Peters' work also unleashed her competitive streak. “You have to be proactive, not reactive, in sprint cycling. But a lot of girls don't have the confidence. You have to listen to your inner voice. It took quite a time for me to find it. Steve taught me to be more assertive,” she explains. “The concepts Steve taught would help four out of five girls in everyday life. If I had known these things at 14, I would have been much more happy and less full of teen angst. I was always so self-conscious about being boyish as a teenager that I would never be seen in a swimming costume.”

So it was rather a turnaround for her to pose (tastefully) nude on her bike for a magazine cover in February, and to do a photoshoot wearing heels and a slinky black dress. Does a modelling career beckon? She shakes her head and laughs. “I don't mind putting on a frock or heels. But nudity? No, not again. That was that boundary pushed. There's not much more to see, to be honest, especially as I spend so much time in Lycra.” Pendleton is indeed remarkably slim, particularly for a sport once dominated by the more Warsaw-Pact shape of lady. But it's not down to a strict diet, she says. “I enjoy healthy food and don't use the team nutritionist. I eat what I want, when I want, because I burn the calories off. I thoroughly enjoy training. I enjoy the regimented, structured way of life (she smiles at the apparent absurdity). Everything I do is measured and documented so we can see where I am improving.”

Away from training, she needs a regimen, she adds: “On holiday I'm still active. I would be uptight and difficult if I didn't exercise, because I know how my body should feel in best condition. It makes you feel paranoid that you might lose everything that you have worked so hard for.” This stringent self-discipline seems likely to keep her going for as long as she can possibly stay competitive. “Winning a gold medal at this stage of my career is pure relief, but to be honest it's not enough,” she admits. “When you've got one gold, what else do you want? You want two, and when you've got two, you want three.” Clear the streets, London: Pendleton's on her way.

The Sky Sports London Freewheel takes place on Sunday September 21 and is free to enter. www.london.gov.uk/freewheel

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