Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) successfully set a new UCI Hour Record at the Velodromo Bicentenario in Aguascalientes, Mexico on Tuesday evening (April 16).
The Belgian set a distance of 55.089km in his hour, beating the 54.526km record of Bradley Wiggins set in 2015 in London by 563 metres.
Campenaerts delivered an imperious performance in his attempt, maintaining a fairly consistent pace throughout.
The 27-year-old hit the first 10km four seconds quicker than Wiggins, riding around 16.2 seconds per 250m lap in the first 20 minutes.
>>> The tech behind Bradley Wiggins’s Hour Record success
The splits then began to drift to around 16.3 seconds per lap, still enough to set a new record, but enough to show Campenaerts was beginning to feel his effort. At halfway he had ridden an average speed of 55.117km/h, which would have given him around 600m on Wiggins if he held his effort.
With 40 minutes gone Campenaerts was still looking strong, holding 16.4 seconds per lap, down on his previous efforts.
As 50 minutes ticked over, he'd covered just over 46km, but was now beginning to reach back into 16.3 second laps, and looking much more assured of setting the new record.
The lap times then stayed between 16.3 and 16.45 in the final eight minutes of the effort, with the pain now visibly setting in having reached 200 laps in 54-29.
In the last five minutes Campenaerts needed to take 16 more laps to beat the record, and was still holding his effort as he continued to log lap times of just over 16.3 seconds, still averaging just over 55kmh as his line wavered somewhat from the black line around the track.
With just over 59 minutes gone he needed just over one lap to beat the record, eventually hitting 54.750km by 59-41.
Of course Campenaerts continued to push on to make more distance, in the end finishing on 55.089km to set a new Hour Record, completing 221 laps of the velodrome in total.
"I'm super happy and if I think of the list I'm in now, I'm among the greatest cyclists in history," Campenaerts said after his effort. "I've focused on this for a long time so I'm happy I could break the record and I'm also really happy that I could hit the magic 55km."
Thank you for reading 10 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
-
-
No turns, giving up and learning from mistakes: dissecting a curious stage three of the Volta a Catalunya
Why did the chase group give up? What was Primož Roglič playing at?
-
Carbon vs steel for bikepacking: which frame material is best for multi-day adventures?
We put a carbon and steel gravel bike to the test on a four-day loop around Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains
-
‘Current WorldTour system is killing all the smaller teams,’ says Reinardt Janse van Rensburg
South African ex-Lotto Soudal rider fears more teams could find themselves in B & B Hotels-KTM situation if the system doesn’t change
-
Caleb Ewan ‘not going anywhere’ after team's relegation, says Lotto-Soudal
Spokesperson for Belgian team says that Ewan has expressed desire to stay and lead the team in 2023
-
Filippo Ganna in no rush to extend his new Hour Record
Italian says if he has a go at beating his own record, it will be before he retires, like Bradley Wiggins
-
How to watch Filippo Ganna's World Hour Record attempt: Live stream the event
Here's how to catch the Italian's long-awaited Hour Record attempt
-
Filippo Ganna to attempt to break Hour Record in October
Italian will attempt to break 55.548km distance set by Dan Bigham
-
'It’s a bit mind blowing, pretty epic' - Dan Bigham on his Hour Record breaking ride
British rider goes 55.548km to take record off Victor Campenaerts
-
Dan Bigham breaks Victor Campenaerts' Hour Record with 55.548km distance
Englishman breaks the 55.089km record in Switzerland
-
Live stream: Dan Bigham's Hour Record attempt
The kit, the start time, the venue, and the magic number he needs to beat - 55.089km
