COMET country golden girl Victoria Pendleton will soon be earning a crust of a different kind. Victoria, 29, who won a gold medal in the cycling at the Olympic Games in Beijing, will soon be seen by millions of people riding a grocer s bike and much sl

COMET country golden girl Victoria Pendleton will soon be earning a crust of a different kind.

Victoria, 29, who won a gold medal in the cycling at the Olympic Games in Beijing, will soon be seen by millions of people riding a grocer's bike and much slower as the new face of Hovis bread.

Brought up in Stotfold where her parents still live, she will be earning her dough, believed to be a six-figure deal, over the next three years as the first woman used to advertise the famous loaf.

The current Comet Sports Personality of the Year, Victoria, who is in Australia training for the World Cycling Championships being held in Copenhagen in March, said: "I'm really looking forward to working with Hovis and being their ambassador for a range of healthy living and eating campaigns.

"I hope my work with Hovis will inspire a new generation of girls and boys on bikes who enjoy cycling as much as I did when I was younger and maybe even inspire some champions of the future."

A current world and commonwealth champion, Victoria shot the advert on Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset, the steep hill made famous by film director Ridley Scott in his cult Hovis advert 37 years ago.

Hovis marketing director Jon Goldstone said: "Hovis is renowned for Britain's favourite ad, the iconic Boy on a Bike and we are delighted to announce Vicky as our new Girl on a Bike and are very excited about our plans for the next three years.