Ecstatic family members of gold medalist Victoria Pendleton have spoken out after the cyclist's naibiting ride to victory.

Proud dad Max, 63, said: "We are moderately pleased! No we are absolutely ecstatic, she did really well.

"She was close to being convinced she would get it, but not totally. There's always that one per cent in your brain that thinks it might not happen.

"But she did it, and she deserves it, she has trained so hard for this and it was all worth it.

"For us watching it is extremely stressful, we were all cheering from the television."

Victorious Victoria who was brought up in Stotfold, flew her way through the semi-finals on Monday.

And this morning saw her beat her Australian rival Anna Meares in the nailbiting final where she grabbed the gold.

Mr Pendleton added that Victoria will be taking part in the closing ceremony where she will be riding a lap of the track before the passover of the games to London.

He added: "We haven't been able to talk to her yet, but she will probably phone us this afternoon or tonight once she has calmed down a little bit.

"Some people think with cycling you just get on your bike and go. But it's a real tactical sport.

"If you make a wrong move and look over your shoulder at the wrong time then you've had it.

"But she made no wrong moves in any of the races, and it paid off.

"She has trained really hard and she really was at the top of her game.

"It's fantastic."