After Jens Voigt’s farewell ride – and short-lived record – resuscitated interest in the UCI’s unified Hour Record, another two attempts have been announced.
The first attempt at the Women’s record will take place at the London round of the Revolution Series on the 28th of February with Great Britain’s Dame Sarah Storey – three weeks after Rohan Dennis of BMC takes to the boards in the Swiss Velodrome at Gernchen on the 8th – while Australia’s Jack Bobridge is also rumoured to be on the verge of announcing an attempt to try to wrest the record from Matthias Brändle.
Storey will aim to beat the existing record of 46.065km by Dutch rider Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel, which dates back to 2003. “I’m excited and nervous at the prospect of being the first women to take on the record in over a decade” commented Storey. “I did a couple of days testing up at the Manchester Velodrome to try and work out the output that would be involved over an hour to have a realistic chance of challenging the record and we decided that if I can arrive in good shape I stood a fighting chance.”
“Logistically it fits in just about perfectly with the plans I already had put in place for next year which centre around the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships at the end of March – when I will be entering the Individual Pursuit, 500m Time Trial and Scratch Race.”
UCI President Brian Cookson welcomed Dame Sarah Storey’s attempt: “After two UCI Hour Records in quick succession for the men, I am very pleased that the existing women’s record will now be challenged. In amending the regulations, the UCI hoped for exactly this kind of motivation from the world’s best athletes. Dame Sarah Storey’s attempt will be eagerly awaited and I am sure it will prompt other top women riders to try to claim this prestigious record.”
Storey’s UCI Hour Record will be the culmination of a packed programme of racing as part of the Saturday afternoon session at the Revolution event.
“There has been a lot of excitement about the ‘The Hour’ again just recently and as a UCI event we were keen to bring some of that to Britain“ said James Pope, of Face Partnership who promote the Revolution Series.
“When Jens Voigt and Mathias Brändle established their records the crowd involvement seemed really high and we felt a high energy Revolution meeting might be the ideal occasion to host such an attempt.”
“Obviously these things have to be finessed because firstly the rider has to be in peak physical condition to even contemplate an attempt and with a fair deal of preparation time required it also has to fit in with team duties and requirements.”
“We are delighted therefore when Dame Sarah Storey accepted our invitation to make her attempt on the Women’s UCI Hour Record at Revolution on February 28th at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London. It should be a great occasion.”
