Alex Dowsett's Perfect Hour: reaction and pictures
Alex Dowsett broke Rohan Dennis's Hour Record, setting a mark of 52.937km in Manchester. Michael Hutchinson caught up with him afterwards
“I wish people hadn’t told me how hard it was going to be,” said Alex Dowsett after setting a new world Hour mark of 52.937 km, adding 446m to the record of Australian, Rohan Dennis.
“I was scared of the suffering. I was expecting it to be horrendous, and it was only terrible. The first 30 minutes felt quite easy, certainly easier than I’d expected.
“The time seemed to be ticking away pretty quickly. But we’d only ever gone to 35 minutes in training, so the last 25 minutes was always going to be a bit of an unknown.
“We had a plan, which I didn’t like. That was to equal Rohan Dennis’s record up to 45 minutes. I wanted to do more, but I had to have faith in the coaches. I was continually being slowed down to the pace. The idea was that I could be let loose only in the last five minutes. But I knew at ten minutes that I had it in me, so I pressed on.”
Was that when he knew he was going to do it?
“No, it was at half-an-hour, when I pulled in front of Rohan’s record, I felt I had a lot left. I knew at that point that I was going to break the record.”
The last ten minutes of the ride, when he “let loose”, sent the crowd into a sustained roar of approval. Riding each lap at over 54 kph by that point, he was edging closer and closer to breaking the 53km barrier. In the end, of course, he didn’t quite get there.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
“Yeah, that 70m is a bit annoying, because it was in there,” he said.
So would he have another go? “I don’t see why I wouldn’t want to do it again sometime. I enjoyed it today. This is what cycling is about, for me, the noise of the crowd in the last 10 minutes was huge.”
And with a reference to the date of Bradley Wiggins’s planned Hour attempt, he added, “Maybe I’ll have another go after the June 7.”
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Michael Hutchinson is a writer, journalist and former professional cyclist. As a rider he won multiple national titles in both Britain and Ireland and competed at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was a three-time Brompton folding-bike World Champion, and once hit 73 mph riding down a hill in Wales. His Dr Hutch columns appears in every issue of Cycling Weekly magazine
-
Sport is a multi-billion pound industry designed to achieve a pile of things that don’t actually need doing
By Michael Hutchinson Published
-
Michael Woods aims to shine at GP Montréal after disappointment last time out
Woods buoyed by recent Vuelta a España stage win as he gets set to race back on home turf
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Cycling Time Trials' 20mph speed limit rule will help 'protect our sport long term', says Alex Dowsett
New ruling for UK TTing says that riders must ‘adhere to posted speed limits’, in order to prevent 'public outrage'
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Vittoria Bussi makes history with new UCI Hour Record
Italian becomes first woman ever to surpass 50km in her effort
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Want to break a track record? WattShop to give anyone the chance this September
British company to take over Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland to try and smash times for anyone - if you have £7,000
By Adam Becket Published
-
The new UCI rule that could see Filippo Ganna’s world records tumble
A technical change will give taller riders a longer handlebar reach
By Tom Davidson Last updated
-
Filippo Ganna smashes World Hour Record with distance of 56.792km
The Italian also beat Chris Boardman's 'best human effort'
By Tom Davidson Last updated
-
Filippo Ganna on Hour Record: 'I need to do the biggest effort of my life'
The Italian also shared more details about his bike set-up
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Ellen van Dijk makes history with new Hour Record
The Dutchwoman covered 49.254km to set the new Hour Record at the Velodrome Suisse
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Ellen van Dijk says breaking Hour Record will be difficult: 'Joss Lowden's record is a really high standard'
The Dutchwoman will attempt to break Lowden's distance of 48.405km at the Velodrome Suisse on Monday
By Ryan Dabbs Published