Cycling news - Joss Lowden smashes Victoria Bussi's women's Hour Record with brilliant ride in Grenchen
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 30/09/2021 at 17:13 GMT
British rider Joss Lowden produced a brilliant ride at the Velodrome Suisse to break Victoria Bussi’s Hour Record of 48.007km. Lowden was just the seventh female cyclist to attempt the hour-long feat since UCI unified regulations in 2014, and she finished well clear of the previous record after a strong pace throughout.
Lowden breaks Hour Record with superb ride
Joss Lowden smashed the women’s UCI Hour Record with a stunning ride at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland.
Looking to beat Victoria Bussi’s record of 48.007km, which was set in 2018, British rider Lowden was nearly always ahead of the required pace.
At the halfway stage she was 11 seconds better off than Bussi and she made history with a completed distance of 48.405km.
After being congratulated by partner Dan Bigham, who will attempt to break the British Hour Record on Friday, Lowden said: "There was a lot of self doubt and actually it wasn't that bad!
"I started and I knew the record split I can ride comfortably, in theory, so I just had to trust that and I knew if I sat below that I would be OK. There was a point where Dan was like 'come on, push on' and I thought do I really go for it or do I play it a bit safer, and I think I went somewhere in the middle."
Starting at 4.10pm BST, Lowden was just the seventh female cyclist to attempt the hour-long feat since UCI unified regulations in 2014.
She made a steady start but soon moved ahead of the required pace.
At 10km she was two seconds ahead of Bussi’s record time and by 15km she was five seconds faster. Her time at the halfway stage suggested she was well on track and she continued to extend her advantage.
Even though Bussi made a strong finish in her record attempt, Lowden kept her pace and finished well ahead.
Bigham will attempt to break Bradley Wiggins' British Hour Record on Friday at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen. He will look to break the 54.526km record set by Wiggins in London in 2015.
Who else has attempted the record?
Six women had previously attempted the Hour Record as recognised by the UCI, cycling’s world governing body.
Briton Dame Sarah Storey fell 563m short with her attempt in February, but American Molly Shaffer Van Houweling was then successful with a 46.273km ride six months later.
In January 2016, Australian Bridie O’Donnell set a new record with 46.882km, but a month later American Evelyn Stevens upped it to 47.980km.
New Zealand’s Jaime Nielsen was less than 200m short in her July 2017 bid, and though Italian Bussi fell short when recording 47.576km with her first attempt in October 2017, she was the record holder after posting 48.007km in September 2018 at the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement