Victoria Pendleton has designs on fashion job

OLYMPIC gold medallist Victoria Pendleton has revealed that she plans to race into an entirely new career once the London 2012 Games are finished - fashion.

The award-winning designer and fellow cycling enthusiast Paul Smith has offered her some work experience, she tells The Daily Telegraph. "I don't know in what capacity yet. We're going to have a meeting to discuss it."

Pendleton, who won gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing, recently announced that she plans to retire after the London Olympics because she is fed up with suffering injuries during training. But yesterday she admitted that she was daunted by the thought of looking for a new job. "I am terrified, I am really terrified, about life after cycling because that is all I have done," she said at a magazine awards ceremony in London.

Will the move into fashion at the age of 32 work for her? She’s not sure. "I've never worked in a creative industry," she told the Telegraph’s Mandrake column. "It's something I'd like to check out. I've said I'd be happy to make the teas."

Either way, Pendleton and Sir Paul should have plenty to chat about at the water cooler. A keen cyclist, he aimed to be a professional cyclist himself until a bad biking accident at 16 forced him to pursue a career in fashion instead.

Since then he has designed a range of clothes and accessories for the stylish UK cycling brand Rapha, including a Tour de France jersey, as well as a limited edition range of Paul Smith track bikes. ·