'It’s just a really raw measure of who is the best' – Matthew Richardson on being the 'fastest cyclist of all time'

Matthew Richardson has described the flying 200m record, which he set last week, as the "raw measure of who is the best".

The British rider became the first rider to set a time of under nine seconds on the track at the velodrome in Konya, Turkey, last Thursday, and went on to break his own record the next day, setting a benchmark of 8.857.

The 26-year-old took a further 0.084 seconds off the 8.941 record he set the previous day. His average speed for the final effort was 81.3kph.

The flying 200m is not a championship medal event, but rather a qualifying effort used to seed riders in the match sprint. Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen set the previous record at the Paris Olympics last year with a time of 9.088 seconds.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly this week, Richardson said: "I mean, it feels cool, it's nice that I've held on to it for longer than a few minutes this time, which is obviously nice, and then obviously the disappointment of Konya earlier in the year. When I got it taken away from me. So having the world record, I guess, technically, twice in the past few days and to still retain it is a nice feeling."

During the UCI Track Nations Cup in Konya earlier this year, Richardson appeared to break the record, clocking 9.041 seconds, but his effort was scored off by the UCI for straying off the track, beneath the blue band. However, he has now gone even quicker.

"To me, it's just a reflection on all the hard work I've put in over many months chasing it," he said. "It's been a dream of mine to be the first person under nine seconds for a few years. To actually be sitting here having done it, I just feel really proud of myself, really."

Asked why the record has such a special status among track riders, Richardson said: "I think it's just because it's a pure demonstration of how fast you are. It's the fastest sort of time trial that there is in track cycling. It's just an easy claim of, if you're faster in that than someone else, then you are faster than them. So I think it's just a really raw measure of, basically, who is the best."

Also last week, Will Bjergfelt smashed the UCI Hour Record in the C5 classification, becoming the first para-cyclist to surpass the 50km barrier. Charlie Tanfield also took on the elite men’s UCI Hour Record, but fell three kilometres short of Filippo Ganna’s benchmark.

The story behind Matthew Richardson's record breaking ride will be the subject of a feature in the 11 September issue of Cycling Weekly – subscribe to the magazine here.