Belgian cyclist Victor Campenaerts on Tuesday set a new 1-hour world record for distance covered on a track with 55.089km, edging past the previous record set by British great Bradley Wiggins.
The European time-trial champion established the record at the Velodromo Bicentenario in Aguascalientes, Mexico, at an altitude of 1,800m, beating the previous record of 54.526km set in June 2015.
“I broke the magic 55km,” the exhausted 27-year-old said after bettering Wiggins’ mark by 563m, albeit under arguably easier conditions. “I was too optimistic at first and after half an hour, I needed to set a new slower pace. I worked long and hard for this, and the team were right behind me and now I paid them back.”
Photo: AFP
Wiggins in 2015 set the mark of 54.526km and there have been several attempts to break it since.
Wiggins congratulated Campenaerts on his achievement.
“Chapeau Victor my man,” the 38-year-old wrote on Twitter.
Campenaerts raced under slightly different conditions to those faced by the track-trained Wiggins, and not only a difference in altitude.
International Cycling Union rules say that any attempt must use a regulation track bike and the athlete must be part of the biological passport doping control program.
However, pundits say that the altitude alone could have given the Belgian up to a 1,500m advantage on Wiggins. That said, no hour record has previously been set at the Aguascalientes velodrome, which is at 1,800m altitude, where the thin air is less resistant aerodynamically.
Campenaerts has been sleeping in simulated conditions of 3,000m altitude, which increases the red blood cell count so that the body can deliver the oxygen that fuels physical feats, in his two weeks in Mexico.
His bike was constructed to his requirements: without gears or brakes for less weight and with straight handlebars for improved aerodynamics.
His bike frame also ensured that he could take an identical riding position to his usual road style.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
Ukrainian coal miner Andrii’s face lit up when he talked about meeting Oleksandr Usyk. “Wow,” the 36-year-old said in English. Andrii and more than a dozen other war veterans were on hand when Usyk beat Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. It was a rematch of their 2023 bout that Andrii viewed under vastly different circumstances. “I watched this fight on the front line on my phone,” he said through an interpreter during a stop on Friday at the Ukrainian Embassy in London. “We were watching very quietly, but when he won there was loud
PENALTY MISS: ‘We practiced penalties,’ Spain coach Montse Tome said, while both her team’s spot-kicks were saved by Switzerland’s goalkeeper Livia Peng Spain ended Switzerland’s dreamy midsummer run through its home Women’s European Championship in a 2-0 win in the quarter-finals on Friday despite missing two penalty kicks. Swiss resistance was broken by the world champion’s two goals in a five-minute spell midway through the second half. Athenea Del Castillo slotted in a shot from Aitana Bonmati’s flicked assist in the 66th, just four minutes after coming off the bench, and Claudia Pina curled a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 71st. Spain are to play France or Germany in the semi-finals in Zurich on Wednesday. The winner would face defending
RSS