Alex Dowsett (Movistar) admitted he was ‘gutted’ after announcing the postponement of his UCI Hour Record attempt.

The Commonwealth Games time trial champion was due to tackle the challenge at Revolution on Friday February 27, in an evening of entertainment at the Lee Valley VeloPark billed, “The Perfect Hour”.

A training crash while out in Essex resulted in him needing surgery to correct a fractured collarbone last week, however, and after assessing his fitness the team and Dowsett have reluctantly had to postpone it.

The Essex rider said: “I’m really gutted this has happened. I’ve never worked harder for anything and to make this difficult decision with the team and lose this opportunity is a real blow.

“The positive is that it is a record attempt so we will be attempting it at a later date. I cannot thank Movistar, Canyon, Endura and the rest of the team partners enough for their continued support as well as my family and friends.

“But most of all I’d like to thank everyone that’s supported me with words of encouragement both in training pre-crash and words of support and well wishes post-crash, it really was overwhelming.

“I’ll now recover properly and be back to full fitness for the road season and another crack at the ‘perfect hour’.”

A statement issued on the team website explained the decision was made after Dowsett was unable to fulfil an initial recovery program proposed after his surgery.

Though pictures emerged of Dowsett on a turbo trainer less than a week after the crash, Movistar believe attempting the record ‘would have been a risky decision, compromising the rest of the season for Alex and putting extra pressure on his recovery’.

Two of Dowsett’s rivals for the UCI Hour Record, who have attempts scheduled in the coming weeks, have enjoyed better form in Adelaide, however.

Thank you so much for your support everyone, tough day and tough decision to make. We’ll be back once I’m fixed. #postponedperfecthour

— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) January 22, 2015

Both Jack Bobridge and Rohan Dennis have won stages of their home race, the Tour Down Under, ahead of their attempts.

A decision on Dowsett’s attempt is to be made once he is fully recovered from his injuries, the team have stated.