Vittoria Bussi breaks Hour Record by 27 metres

Vittoria Bussi is the new women’s Hour Record holder after riding 48.007 kilometres on the high-altitude velodrome in Aguascalientes, Mexico, yesterday. The Italian had previously made an attempt in October 2017, but fell 400m short of Evelyn Stevens’ record of 47.98km.

The UCI changed its Hour Record rules in 2014 and Leontien van Moorsel’s distance of 46.065 kilometres, achieved in 2003, was set as the official record.

It was first broken by Molly Shaffer Van Houweling in September 2015 and the American was at the track to support Bussi this week.

According to Van Howeling, Bussi made an initial attempt on Wednesday, but pulled out after 44 minutes.

She then made the decision to try again the following day “Graeme Obree style” – a reference to when the Scot first took the record in 1993 just 24 hours after an unsuccessful attempt.

By the halfway point, Bussi was very slightly ahead of schedule and then briefly surged at around the 40-minute mark before settling back to somewhere around her previous pace.

Vittoria Bussi breaks the @UCI_Track @UCI_cycling @UCIWomenCycling #UCIHourRecord by just 27m to record 48.007km, incredibly <24hrs after an attempt the previous day. Bussi benefited from high altitude (Aguascalientes, Mexico) excellent pacing and a surge at the 40min point pic.twitter.com/mMYjJUmJRd

— B Xavier Disley, PhD (@xavierdisley) September 14, 2018

It’s official! pic.twitter.com/TxZKf1QPS5

— Molly Van Houweling (@mollysvh) September 13, 2018