Alex Dowsett's hour attempt postponed after he tests positive for Covid-19

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 18/11/2020 at 18:23 GMT

Alex Dowsett was scheduled to try and break the hour record on December 12, but he will have to postpone until 2021 after testing positive for Covid-19. The British rider says he will be "looking to announce a 2021 date as soon as possible". Victor Campenaerts is the current record holder with 55.089km.

Alex Dowsett’s attempt to break the hour record again has been postponed after he tested positive for Covid-19.

The British rider was due to attempt to overcome Victor Campenaerts’ mark on December 12. However, he will now have to reschedule for 2021 after contracting coronavirus.

"I am really disappointed the attempt can’t go ahead as planned but my health is first and foremost the priority," he said.

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"I’d like to thank everyone, the event organisers, event sponsors, my team, the UCI and above all the public for their support and very much look forward to attacking the record in 2021 with the same intent.

"We’re looking to announce a 2021 date as soon as possible."

Dowsett broke the hour record in 2015 with 52.937km, only for Bradley Wiggins to set a new record a month later of 54.526km.

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Belgium's Campenaerts then set the current mark of 55.089km in April 2019.

“It is a risk,” Dowsett told Eurosport earlier this month.

“The benchmarks that Wiggins and Victor have set are high, but we did some tests earlier in the year and it is doable. So we are going to give it a shot.

“Last time around was great. Obviously, I broke the record. But also I learned a lot from my first attempt. And what I really learned was that I could have gone further.

"I found it incredibly frustrating to put all of that work into it and not have gone as fast as I could.”

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