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Video: Alex Dowsett says he still plans Hour record attempt on 27 February

Movistar rider in good spirits after undergoing surgery yesterday on broken collarbone

Alex Dowsett says he still hopes to attempt the Hour record at the Lee Valley VeloPark on 27 February despite having surgery yesterday on his collarbone, which he broke in a training crash earlier this week.

In a video message posted to Facebook and YouTube by his Movistar team, the 26-year-old from Essex thanked fans and other well-wishers for their support, which he described as “overwhelming.”

He added that he and his team were working “as hard as we can” to keep to the original schedule.

Dowsett said: “Surgery yesterday went extremely well, I should be out of hospital today or tomorrow; haemophilia usually keeps me in a day or two longer than usual but it looks like they’ll be sending me home quite soon.

“I want to say thank you to everyone for your support. The messages I’ve had on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram have been phenomenal, it really has been overwhelming.

“We’re trying as hard as we can to make the Perfect Hour on the 27th of February still work.

“We might have to call it the Almost Perfect Hour because of this here,” he went on, indicating his collarbone.

“The team, Movistar, Canyon, Endura, Campagnolo and myself will be doing everything we can to make it still happen.

“Obviously if this doesn’t recover as well as it should then we will postpone it but it is a case of ‘never say never’,” he added.

Dowsett’s attempt on the Hour record is scheduled to take place on the evening of Friday 27 February as part of the Revolution Series, and tickets are available through its website.

Organisers FACE Partnership told road.cc: “We will still host a really good event on 27th with or without the record attempt so we are in the process of creating a second race programme in case the attempt is postponed.

“The Perfect Hour was always going to have Revolution races after the attempt featuring some of the stars from the rest of the weekend.

“Depending on what happens customers will have three options:

1.       Refund of ticket (minus booking fee)
2.       Transfer ticket
3.       Retain the ticket and attend the event on 27th Feb."

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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Paul J | 9 years ago
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Lorenzo had a local anaesthetic injection to get through that race though. I was back on a (motor) bike a week after a displaced left collar bone break. It was sore but doable. I couldn't lift the arm off the bars, but I was able to hold my weight when braking - collar bone locates your shoulder and keeps it from going to extremes, but doesn't otherwise take any great forces.

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mtm_01 | 9 years ago
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I had a straight snap collar bone break, 6 weeks later I tried going up Dover's Hill of national hill climb fame and my arm could barely grip the bars afterwards. Good luck to Alex!

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CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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I saw lorenzo after the race and he looked absolutely terrible, bet he felt worse. If Mr Dowsett would like to put himself through that, good on him. There is no necessity to do it though, as he is not in a championship for a total, better to wait till a more optimal occasion.

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Welsh boy replied to CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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CXR94Di2 wrote:

...better to wait till a more optimal occasion.

I don't think there will be a better opportunity, before long the likes of Wiggins, Martin and goodness knows who else will be going for the record and I really cant see Alex taking the record then. I hope he makes a quick recovery and gets the record, Alex is like a breath of fresh air in the peleton, he comes across as honest and happy (unlike some others going for the record later this year).

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FatFreddie | 9 years ago
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Jorge Lorenzo raced a MotoGP bike (repeated heavy braking from 180MPH for the best part of an hour) two days after breaking his collarbone.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108388
There is a big difference in recovery times for athletes and normal people due to a combination of better medical care and higher pain tolerance.
Of course the devil is in the detail (just how bad the break was) but lets hope Alex can make the attempt at somewhere close to full fitness.

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CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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Having spent a few days in a hospital bed(broken foot) next to a guy with a shattered collarbone now plated and screwed. He was told 6 - 8 weeks recovery then rehabilitation. If Mr Dowsett can hold the position for an hour not including the training leading up to the hour attempt, he will be superman.

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