Alex Dowsett today announced his Hour Record attempt will not go ahead on February 27 with the Movistar rider unable to recover in time from a broken collarbone.
Dowsett suffered the injury on a training ride on January 13 and underwent surgery at the Royal London hospital two days later.
>>> Alex Dowsett’s Hour Record hopes not over, says Rowsell
The Movistar rider was back on the turbo just days after being discharged – which took longer than normal due to his haemophilia – but both he and his team feel rushing the attempt may compromise the rest of his season.
"I'm really gutted this has happened,” Dowsett said on the Movistar website. “I’ve never worked harder for anything and to make this difficult decision with the team and lose this opportunity is a real blow.
"The positive is that it is a record attempt so we will be attempting it at a later date. I cannot thank Movistar, Canyon, Endura and the rest of the team partners enough for their continued support as well as my family and friends.
"But most of all I'd like to thank everyone that's supported me with words of encouragement both in training pre-crash and words of support and well wishes post-crash, it really was overwhelming. I'll now recover properly and be back to full fitness for the road season and another crack at the ‘perfect hour.’”
The 26-year-old from Essex hopes to raise awareness for sufferers of haemophilia and prove to youngsters with the condition there is a sport they can seriously participate in.
>>> Alex Dowsett sends video message after collarbone surgery
Tour Down Under stage winner Jack Bobridge and fellow Australian Rohan Dennis will attempt to break Matthias Brändle’s mark of 51.85km in the coming weeks.
