The Hour Record

https://vimeo.com/115875356

one of the more eccentric contenders

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/193665698/maas-the-monk-a-film-about-tough-life

What's the chop with him though - I thought you needed to be within the UCI Bio Passport scheme to be able to compete. That's why Botty couldn't have a go.

good question. going to try and figure it out. he already holds several records though;

http://www.uci.ch/track/news/article/track-new-best-hour-performance-behind-derny/

Rohan Dennis, another Aussie having a go on February 8 at Velodrome Suisse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahjfjjOc7mQ

Did someone post this already? Dr Hutch podcast talking about the Hour..

http://cyclingtimetrialpodcast.libsyn.com/hour-record-mania-with-michael-hutchinson

Sarah Storey story :)

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/19/sarah-storey-british-paralympian-womens-cycling-hour-record

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-dennis-talks-about-his-hour-record-attempt

Can somebody give me a TL;DR version of why the world and his dog is all of a sudden having a go at this?

Has there been a big rule change or something?

Yes, the rules changed so normal track pursuit bikes can be used rather than having to go back to the stupid 'Merckx bike' rule.

Unsurprisingly, Dowsett's attempt has been postponed;

http://movistarteam.com/news/2015-1-22/alex-dowsett-movistar-team-s-uci-hour-record-attempt-postponed

It's because I never got around to buying tickets. I'm sorry Dowsett, very sorry, but I think chucking yourself on the ground was a bit excessive.

Nearly bought tickets for that yesterday - glad I didn't. Faff dodging.

Really looking forward to Wiggo's shot at this. If he win's Roubaix and holds the hour record for a bit, will there actually be anything else left for him to do?!
/ wiggothread

^ Release an album.

You know it will happen.

the lord save us all...

Wiggoke

Why has Sparacus lost interest since the rule change?

He thought he was going to be competing with Merckx, and could beat both The Cannibal and subsequent updates to that record. Now he has a moving target and the only really credible outcome is to beat Boardman's 56.375km record, which is probably beyond him. Also, in the meantime Wiggins has announced a serious run at the record; presumably Cancellara would have no interest in holding the record for a few weeks, only to see his effort eclipsed, so both he and Martin are likely to wait for Wiggins and then re-evaluate whether they have any chance of beating whatever distance he sets.

Makes sense. Ta

Just so I'm clear, is Wiggo going for Boardman's record? As I understand it, with the unification, that record is now the overall record, right?

EDIT - no. Boardman's "record" has been re-instated, but it's not the record, or something?

In 2014 the UCI unified the two classifications into a single classification in line with regulations for current track pursuit bikes. Records previously removed for Chris Boardman and Graeme Obree would be returned, however the current record would remain at 49.700 km set in 2005 by Ondrej Sosenka, even though that is not the farthest distance.

WTF?

See also: http://cyclingtimetrialpodcast.libsyn.com/hour-record-mania-with-michael-hutchinson

The 56k record is still there but you'll still hold the Hour Record if you beat the lesser distances.

Just so I'm clear, is Wiggo going for Boardman's record?

He doesn't have to, and opinion varies about whether he even could. A few of us still think Boardman holds the record since it was set on a UCI legal (at the time) pursuit bike.

It would be fantastic if Wiggo took Boardman's record.

Thanks for clearing that one up. So Boardman's record is in the category of "he went very fast but we don't do that sort of thing any more thank you".