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Struggling Victoria Pendleton admits: ''Strictly' left my pride in tatters'

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As an Olympic cyclist, Victoria Pendleton has been in the winning way most of her life. But her stint on Strictly Come Dancing has been an altogether different experience. Cycling's golden girl was suprised to find herself bottom of the leaderboard on the first live instalment of the BBC1 show.

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Although she is now steadily improving, the 32-year-old told Radio Times: "Strictly is slowly stripping me of all of my dignity! I left all of my pride in tatters on the dance floor after my first performance and the ironic thing was that I wasn't nervous, I wasn't worried and I felt prepared beforehand." 

"I have never experienced that feeling of helplessness before." Victoria, who is learning the ropes under the watchful eye of her partner Brendan Cole, plans to apply her winning mentality to the new challenge at hand. "I'm never going to be the world's best dancer, but I was determined to go back out there and prove that I can get through a routine," she added. 

As well as testing her determination, competing on Strictly Come Dancing has had an effect on the famous figure that powered her to a silver medal at London 2012. The athlete has lost 10lbs since becoming a dancer and admitted she was "sad" to be losing muscle from her greatest asset – her legs.