Chris Boardman has backed changes made by the UCI to the hour record and believes it is only a matter of time until an attempt is made on the revised mark.
With the hour record back in the headlines, the UCI has sought to clarify the rules, having previously killed off interest in the record by ruling that any attempt must be made on equipment comparable to that used by Eddy Merckx for his record in 1972 – the so-called Athlete’s Hour.
Any records since then, including the 56.374km effort made by Boardman himself in the ‘superman’ position (pictured below) in 1996, would be downgraded to Best Human Effort.
However, cycling’s world governing body has now ruled that any future attempt can be made on a bike which complies with rules for endurance competition on the track – but, crucially, the record stands at the latest Athlete’s Hour mark, set at 49.700km by Ondřej Sosenka in 2005.
And, with a discrepancy between the current mark and the equipment on which any future attempt can be made, Boardman believes the opportunity to set a true record according to the revised rules is now an enticing proposition.
“I think that it’s great that they’ve found a way forward,” Boardman told RoadCyclingUK. “It’s not right that records gather dust and there are several people who could beat it. The mark is so low that they’ve taken away the fear, so if anyone wants to rekindle it then they can. It was a case that there was no second place, you either win everything or you lose, but now the bar has been set so low that there’s no fear for the person who wants to kick it off again.”
Bradley Wiggins is one rider who has expressed an interest in making an attempt at the new hour record and the former Tour de France champion’s pedigree against the clock and on the track would make him a favourite to beat the record.
“It’s hard to know what Bradley’s going to do, isn’t it?,” said Boardman, when we asked whether Wiggins is a leading candidate. “That’s what’s so exciting to watch, because you just don’t know what he’s going to do.”
Fabian Cancellara is one rider unlikely to make an attempt under the current rules, however. The four-time world time trial champion had been preparing an attempt under the old Athlete’s Hour regulations but has withdrawn his interest, having wanted to test himself against Merckx.
However, even with the official hour record now set in stone by the UCI, Boardman believes there is nothing stopping Cancellara – or any other rider – pitting themselves against the Athlete’s Hour and Merck’s 49.431km record, which was subsequently broken by Boardman (49.441km in 2000) before Sosenka set the latest record.
“When people talk about the Athletes Hour, what they forget that it was never done as a record for the UCI, it was done as a private project and the UCI adopted it,” said Boardman. “There’s nothing to stop someone doing it. Just go out there, time it, count the number of laps you’re doing, then publicise that.”
