Great Britain's Neil Campbell breaks men's cycling land speed record
Campbell will now target the all-time record, currently held by Denise Mueller-Korenek
Neil Campbell has become the fastest man on a bike, after setting a new cycling land speed record of 174.3mph.
The attempt, which also broke his own European record, took place at Elvington Airfield in North Yorkshire, where Campbell was motor-paced behind a Porsche Cayenne. He was then released as he came up to the timed section before deploying a parachute to help him stop.
This is the first time the men's record has been broken in 24 years, with Dutchman Fred Rompelberg previously holding the fastest speed of 166.9mph.
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Rompelberg set his record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the same location where American Denise Mueller-Korenek set the all-time record last year, reaching a speed of 184mph. She had already set the first ever women's record in 2016 of 147mph before going on to obliterate the men's record two years later.
Campbell, who works as an architect in Essex, has now set his sights on breaking the all-time record, saying he will have to travel to Utah for the attempt as the runway at Elvington is not long enough for it.
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Mueller-Korenek, a CEO and motorsport enthusiast in her 40s, was formerly a successful racer, winning 14 national championships and two world championship podiums during her career.
During her world record attempt, she was towed behind a dragster up to 50mph before being released and able to pedal a massive gear.
She then had to stay within the slipstream while travelling at almost 200mph across the salt flats on a custom KHS bike, travelling behind the 1000-horsepower dragster.
After hitting the target speed, Mueller-Korenek then sat up and allowed the wind resistance to slow her back down.
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Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
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