Victoria Pendleton narrowly misses out on gold medal in final race of her cycling career

Olympic champion track cyclist Victoria Pendleton settled for silver in her last race before retiring after being disqualified from one of three rounds of the women's sprint final at the Velodrome

Olympic champion track cyclist Victoria Pendleton settled for silver in her last race before retiring after being disqualified from one of three rounds of the women's sprint final at the Velodrome.

VICTORIA PENDLETON'S MUM ON RAISING AN OLYMPIAN

One of Britain's most beloved female athletes, Pendleton, missed out on a gold in the woman's team sprint competition last night after she was disqualified by officials for straying over the sprinter's line in her first best-of-three finals race.

However, to disappointed fans and GB supporters, it looked like Pendleton had been elbowed by arch-rival, Australian track cyclist Anna Meares, who ended the evening with a triumphant gold.

Despite her obvious disappointment - Pendleton was also disqualified from team sprint with Jess Varnish last week - the speed-demon Team GB cyclist still managed to gain a silver medal by race's end. Of being relegated, Pendleton said: 'I was really annoyed because I'm sure that she touched me and it caused me to move up.

'I can't believe that twice in one competition I've been disqualified and relegated, it's unheard of. It's a bit of a surprise, it did knock my confidence a bit I must say.'

Last night's event marked the end of the era of Queen Vic, who took home Olympic gold in Beijing and again in last week's keirin final. After the race, Pendleton said: 'I'm just so relieved right now. I've been a bit overwhelmed with emotion.'

It's not the last we'll see of Queen Vic, however. Marketing experts predict that the super-cyclist could earn up to £1million a year for fashion, beauty and lifestyle brand endorsements (she's already one of the faces of Pantene), with an additional £20K for each public speaking engagement.

What did you think of Victoria's final race? Was she robbed? Let us know in the box below.

WATCH: VICTORIA PENDLETON FOR PANTENE

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