Fabian Cancellara to attempt hour record in Mexico on August 3
Fabian Cancellara will try and break the hour world record in Aguascalientes, Mexico, after the 2014 Tour de France


Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) finalised the date and venue for his hour record attempt. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, he will try on the Sunday after the Tour de France, August 3, in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
The 32-year-old Swiss rider already holds the 2008 Olympic and four World time trial titles. He conquered the Tour of Flanders twice and Paris-Roubaix three times. Now he will try to beat the 49.700-kilometre mark set by Ondrej Sosenka in 2005.
Team general manager, Luca Guercilena already confirmed that Cancellara would attempt the hour record this year. He marked the periods after the classics, in late April, and after the Tour de France, early August as the possible times.
"It's not easy to find time when you are racing 12 months a year," Guercilena told Cycling Weekly. "It's hard to find time, two months, away from the road events and dedicated to the track. You need to try to insert in the season when he has a peak in form that he can transfer from the road to the track."
Cycling Weekly contacted Guercilena for this article but he was unavailable. On Wednesday afternoon, the team sent a press release saying that Cancellara will attempt the hour record this year but still needs to decide where and when.
Guercilena said: "We are in discussions with several tracks around the world, and in terms of timing, I can only confirm that we are no longer considering the period after the Classics."
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported today that Cancellara will train on the track after the classics, from April to June. He will start warming up starting July 22, which overlaps with the final week of the Tour de France. If he raced the Tour, where he won eight times (prologues and stages), he likely would leave early for Mexico.
The team evaluated the velodromes in Aguascalientes, Manchester and Anadia in Portugal. The second two sit near sea level but the first rests at 1800 metres.
The Aguascalientes Bicentenary Velodrome helped many cyclists break world records at the second round of the track World Cup in December. The British women's pursuit team clocked 4-16.552 minutes and Frenchman François Pervis posted 9.347 seconds in the flying 200-metre time trial.
Eddy Merckx broke the hour record at an outdoor velodrome in Mexico City in 1972. Francesco Moser, Graeme Obree, Chris Boardman, Miguel Indurain and Tony Rominger extended the distance in the 1980s and 1990s, but the UCI pushed aside those marks.
In 2000, cycling’s governing body introduced stricter rules and rolled the record back to Merckx's 49.431-kilometre mark. Since then, only Boardman – 49.441 kilometres in 2000 at the Manchester velodrome – and Sosenka – in Moscow – topped the mark.
Fabian Cancellara: Bradley Wiggins is welcome at Paris-Roubaix
Fabian Cancellara schedules hour record attempt
Fabian Cancellara will attempt hour record in April or July 2014, says team manager
Thank you for reading 5 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
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
-
Motorway cyclist arrested for causing danger to road users and suspected possession of Class A drugs
The rider was on the M3 in the early hours of the morning
By Michelle Arthurs-Brennan • Published
-
Five talking points from stage eight of the Giro d'Italia 2022
What we learned from an exciting day of intense action
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Ellen van Dijk set to attempt women's Hour Record in May
Van Dijk is looking to break Joss Lowden's current record of 48.405km
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
British rider breaks junior national Hour Record
British Cycling officiated Fred Meredith's attempt as he rode a record-breaking 49.184km
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Filippo Ganna: 'I will attack the Hour Record at sea level - that gives me more satisfaction'
The Italian also wants success at the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and San-Remo
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Dan Bigham and Michael Hutchinson on how the men's Hour Record can be beaten: 'It’s about keeping everything within your control'
Bigham reset the British Hour Record with a distance of 54.723km in October
By Chris Marshall-Bell • Published
-
Nico Anelli to attempt to break Scottish Hour Record distance to raise awareness of chronic gut conditions: 'It shouldn't be the end of your sporting hopes'
The Scottish time triallist set up his own team, Real Guts Racing, to raise awareness
By Chris Marshall-Bell • Published
-
Alex Dowsett analyses Hour Record attempt: 'I’m confident that was everything I had'
Briton's Hour Record attempt raises over £45,000 for charity
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Victor Campenaerts proud to keep Hour Record: 'I'm glad it is still in my possession'
The Belgian also praised Alex Dowsett's attempt that fell 500m short of the record
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Alex Dowsett falls short of Hour Record in Mexico
Briton misses out on record at the Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico
By Richard Windsor • Published