Rather nice............


Its the lighting.....very artistic......M.

OMG that bike has gears on it

personally i hate the fact that she gets attention because shes 'fit'...shes an amazing cyclist,she should get the attention for that.

you're so right on

feminist

both need stuffing?

i bet you'd like to get her giblets out

Everytime someone says that this jumps to mind...

I think the shirt's sentiment is great but somehow it just doesn't work here in this case...

I think she is being marketed as "fit" in addition to being a great cyclist, no?

Not very often cycle geeks get to have a pin-up...meanwhile it most likely greatly increases her sponsorship revenue.

Yes Aidan, I'm sorry to say but its that cycnical...

Ugh... Those are some bloody terrible photos. The 'nude' one's even worse.

+1 to Aidan though - it's a shame that female athletes have to go down this route to get accepted, as if somehow stripping off and posing for lads' mags validates them.

That's not to say that I'm immune to such stuff (although to get turned on by these shots you'd really have to be trying hard), but it's just a shame, that's all.

-1 respect to Miss Pendleton...

i'm aware that it has increased her popularity...but i feel its clouded peoples perception of her.
i think all the photos posted of her on here have been the modeled shoots...not her racing or receiving medals

she is not fit guys!!!


absolutely regular girl, no curves, just legs as big as mr Hoys'.
A great cyclist, there's no doubt about it.

Maybe you all need to jiz off a little.
there ya go...http://www.selfloversworld.com

xx

feminism and commercialism aside, it's just getting a bit boring. perhaps it will be good to stick up some medal winning photos if she delivers in beijing

that entirely depends on your perception of "Fit".

She has no lady bumps :(

well fisically she's probably fit as the olympic athlete she is, but would say i don't find the Lady to be attarctive...

You've got to leave space for the possibility that Ms Pendleton may feel quite happy that she's considered sexy enough for a shoot / promotion in this way.

You could say this about Beckham or any number of male stars over the years; ultimately it's a complex area which doesn't necessarily start and end at the fact a woman's doing it. For me it's more about whether you want to peddle your wares as a pure sportsperson or bow to society's ever-increasing obsession with sexuality and sexiness.

sexyist

she's not a particularly attractive girl.

there are better looking girls riding bikes around London daily who are all much nicer to look at than VP

Bet you eat Tofu, and poo poo getting shit faced on tonic wine. You need to lighten up a bit wee man:)

I disagree... take a closer look at the pic with her in the evening dress. Definitely some cleavage there.

I read an interview in which she is she was happy to do photo shots like this because it showed young girls that you did not have to look like some Russians to be a cyclist / sprint cyclist. You could be a good cyclist and sexy. Fair play to her but as always her achievements should come first in any ad campaign.

VP is a good ambassador for the sport to young women because she is an excellent cyclist and is good looking helping to push a positive image and a good example to allow other female cyclist to be proud of what they do .

It's not just Pendleton who is bareing all, Rebecca Romero has done it recently too;

Wasn't the nude shoot for the Observer Sport Monthly or something? Hardly a lad's mag..

Was going to do a pearl necklace joke but Aidan will probably choke on his Quorn burger. ;)

spot on mate...but its only because i'm vegetarian,not because i think women shouldn't have to degrade themselves for a bit of recognition.

Wasn't it a copy of the famous Annie Leibovitz shot of Lance Armstrong?

I was thinking more broadly than just VP - I can't think of any half attractive female athlete who hasn't ended up doing a spread in a lads' mag - sometimes quite literally.

Here's an example - I know nothing about pole vaulting and I've never seen Allison Stokke (below) in action, but the first I ever heard of her was because of this photo. We can appreciate VP's world ability, but let's be honest, she's just a sex object for the 95% of other people out there, and that seems rather sad...

I used to go out wih a girl who'd always be cast as a drunk extra on Hollyoaks.

that was pretty degrading (but also hilarious)

i quite fancy her. always had a thing for athletic women

:o

to answer my own question, yes it was and you can buy a signed print for $18,000.

i find her quite attractive. and i think it's the fact that she's very very good at what she does, and the fact that she is at the peak of physical condition that contributes greatly to that attraction. if you said to me she is a secretary at the local solicitors, she would seem as attractive.
all of which is a much better role model for 'sexiness' than some slapper who rolls out of China White at 4 am and gets snapped by the paps.

Hm I dunno. Maybe they're trying to make the point that it's possible to have world-class athletic prowess *and* be feminine at the same time. Some men are intimidated by a woman with more brains than them. So I'm sure there are some who are intimidated by a woman with more muscles as well.

There's also a distinction between "athletes" and "celebrities". A minority of athletes are, for whatever reason, elevated into the ranks of celebrities, and naturally people judge them on the critiera commonly used to judge celebrities... i.e. looks, sexiness, etc. I have no idea who won the last Olympic gold in any event, but I can name a bunch of hot blonde tennis stars and sexy footballers.

These people are not just athletes, they're celebrities. If they can be top-notch athletes *and* rake in extra money from photographic royalties... more power to them. If they're crap athletes, well, no amount of hotness will fix that... and then we can all deride them for being phonies.