Brandle beats Voigt’s world hour record, covers 51.850 kilometres

Achieving his goal in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the UCI’s World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, Austrian rider Matthias Brandle dug deep to break the world hour record previously held by Jens Voigt.

The IAM Cycling rider covered 51.850 in the hour, surpassing Voigt’s mark of 51.115 set on September 19 in Grenchen, Switzerland. He had looked on course to achieve his goal of covering 52 kilometres but faded inside the final ten minutes, his cadence slowing and his style becoming ragged.

He dug deep, though, and beat Voigt’s record by less than a minute, setting a new mark.

Brandle is not as well known as Voigt but, being 24 years of age rather than the German’s 43 years, he had the advantage of youth on his side.

He is also a strong rier in his own right: Brandle is a multiple winner of his national time trial championships, took the points classification in the 2011 Tour de Romandie, the sprints classification in the same race two years later plus the mountains classification in the Tour de l’Ain. He also won this year’s Tour de Berne.

More recently he took two stages in September’s Tour of Britain and those performances plus Voigt’s own hour record inspired him to try to take on the challenge.

He did testing with his team before Il Lombardia and concluded that it was a feasible target. So it proved, and he goes into the history books.

“I feel really great, but during the race it was so hard,” he said afterwards. “It was so good that so many people are supporting me here, because I had a difficult period in the middle of the race. I really suffered. I had to do a few laps a little bit easier, but then in the end I could find my rhythm again and bring it to the end.”

His team owner Michel Thétaz was close by and was elated at the result. “I am very, very proud. I had no doubt he was going to succeed,” he said. “He made a terrific race and all IAM Cycling, all of us, all of my companies are very proud of him.”

He said that it would take time to sink in. “It is difficult to realise [what he did], even for him. It is going to come tomorrow. For me, I was prepared. I know what it means. It is going to be fabulous for him and fabulous for the team…so it is great.”

Battle against the clock:

Brandle quickly got up to speed after the ticker began and reached a pace of over 52 kilometres per hour, putting him well up on Voigt’s pace. He stuck close to the black line on the track and appeared tidier than the German was during his attempt.

He reached the ten kilometre point in 11 minutes 32.027 seconds, almost 30 seconds ahead of Voigt’s 12 minutes 1.336 seconds. Holding a heart rate of 180, he then reached the 20 kilometre point in 23 minutes 1 second, and the 30 kilometre distance in 34 minutes 31.782 seconds.

Voigt had taken 35 minutes 32.761 seconds to cover the same distance and the minute one second between them there showed that the record was very much on. Brandle continued to hold a faster pace and reached the 40 kilometre point in 46 minutes 7.930 seconds, one minute and eight seconds up on Voigt.

Things looked good but fatigue then began to bite in, cutting through his legs and raising his heart rate to 184 beats per minute. He explained afterwards that he really started to struggle. “In the first minute of the race you think it is easy, you can do it for one hour,” he said. “But then the lactic acid comes to your body and every pedal stroke is harder and harder.

“I was sure after 30 minutes that I could do it. But then I had my difficult period. I hoped that I could recover so that I could keep the speed until the end.”

With 48.4 kilometres covered, Brandle’s advantage was down to 53 seconds. His cadence was slowing and he was wavering on the track, finding it increasingly difficult to take the corners tightly. His average speed dropped below 52 kilometres per hour after 50 minutes and he almost lost control of his bike on the finishing straight.

“At the end it was really hard, I was really on my limit,” he said. However while his body was screaming out, things then became earlier mentally. “The closer the hour comes, the easier it goes,” he said, talking about the moment he realised he could do it. “You know there are ten minutes left, five minutes, then you know it is going to an end. You can suffer pain so much.

“Finally it was enough. I could do it and I am really, really happy.”

UCI president Brian Cookson also shared Brandle’s excitement, although his satisfaction came from seeing another rider have a go at the hour record. Stagnant for a long time, the change in rules in relation to equipment has completely changed the perception of the hour record and has renewed the interest in trying to set new marks.

“It is another notch further up,” said the Briton. Importantly, he felt that other attempts will soon follow. “I don’t think it’s out of reach for other riders, it might encourage others to have a go. But it is a really good hour record.”

OverIt

Just show’s what a ‘machine’ Jens is, when a 43 y/o can only ‘just’ be beaten by a 24 y/o. Maybe they should add an ‘age correction’ factor? :)
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  And a handicap for the number of kids he has as well!
  - echidna_sg
    
    and substances previously consumed
- Sean
  
  Are you suggesting an age adjusted ‘hour’ like the vets do in time trials?
Demi Mate

Can someone please explain to me why Chris boardman’s 1993 or perhaps Rominger’s 1995 distances are not considered the actual Hour record? It seems they were on pretty similar bikes to what Voigt and Brandle have used.
- A
  
  Although the UCI has some rules about geometry/wheel size etc., I assume it is really because they were on the gear and the UCI does not want the record to be held by them.
  - Demi Mate
    
    So Boardman was on the hear A?
    - Demi Mate
      
      *Gear..sorry.
      - a
        
        Indurain and Rominger used similar positions - I meant them. Boardman used an extreme position when he last took the record.
        
        Demi Mate
        
        I did specifically state Boardman’s 1993 ride, not his 1996 post Olympics ride, which was achieved using a standard TT position. The failure to acknowledge it really disappointing, as well as not having the record split into athlete’s and absolute.
        
        A
        
        I agree.
        
        My post, although not written clearly, was just to note that the UCI clearly cancelled the records due to the association of that era with drugs.
        
        The efforts of Boardman and Rominger was on the back of much science and preparation comparative to the two recent attempts. I think Boardman’s 1993 record would have been kept by the UCI if it were not for Rominger & Ferrari bettering it.
- Jimmy
  
  Did their bikes conform to the current, new, track bike rules? If so, then in my mind they should be re-instated. If not, then this is the ‘new world order’.
  I do think that there is no problem with riders going and attacking Boardman’s record on the old Merckx style bike, as that record still stands and is distinct in my eyes. But I think you’ll find no one will try, as no one was interested in attempting it before.
  That stagnation will probably also happen with this new record after a few years when all the heavy hitters have had a crack. The excitement will die down and no one will be interested in it again. But at least it is exciting at the moment!
  - A
    
    Rules are always changing, getting tweaked. Currently I understand that the UCI has a rule that all components etc must be available for purchase. Should we cancel all previous records that did not confirm to that rule?
    
    I like the hour record from an analytical perspective. Biggest problem with it is that it is boring to watch…
piggy

Brandle did not use a double disc as Voigt did, would this make much difference?
- echidna_sg
  
  absolutely yes! especially when indoors/zero cross wind/temperature controlled environment… front discs have a “narrow to the hub” cross section whereas traditionally spoked wheels have bits of metal located at the outer flanges of the hub leading to the rim. hence the use of hed H3 trispoke wheels by froome and co in light wind ITT’s - the wheel is simply narrower and there is less of it seeing the wind front on.
Andrew

“strong rier” and “became earlier mentally”. I presume it was “rider” and “easier”
- WTF
  
  People actually bother posting spelling corrections?
  Whoah.
  - Dave @ radelaide
    
    Unlike u, speeling is inportant to sum of us. Many of us hold grave fears, if we dont stay on there backs bout speelin, they’ll hire sloppy writers and end up in the gutta with that other websight cyclingnews. so yeah-nah Andrew is right for havin gotten on their backs early, Andrew brang his ‘a’ game to the comments, wot game you brang huh?
    - Sean
      
      A bogan has n ever made some much sense before…..yah nah haha love it, they do talk like that.
Seth Adams

How do you beat an hour ‘record by less than a minute’? That doesn’t really make sense. Maybe the equivalent time required to travel the greater distance that Brandle rode, but not as written.
phill

Was just about to say I thought overshoes were not allowed in the pursuit but looking at the hour record again he used a front disk too so the picture must be from a training session.

Brandle beats Voigt’s world hour record, covers 51.850 kilometres

Success for IAM Cycling rider as goal pays off

By Shane Stokes - October 31, 2014

Battle against the clock: