Ellen van Dijk smashed the world hour record on Monday. The 35-year-old Dutchman rode no less than 49.245 kilometers on the cycling track in Grenchen, Switzerland, almost 1 kilometer further than the previous record holder Joss Lowden.
Britain’s Lowden came to a distance of 48.405 kilometers in September last year, improving the record of Italy’s Vittoria Bussi, who came to 48,007 kilometers in 2018.
On Monday it was soon clear that Van Dijk was going to succeed in her mission to take the hour record from Lowden. The Trek-Segafredo rider already dived under the British schedule in the first laps and gradually expanded her lead as the hour went on.
With one minute left on the clock, Van Dijk had already driven more kilometers than Lowden last year. In sixty minutes she went around a total of 197 times on the Swiss velodrome, which is located at an altitude of 450 meters.
Van Dijk third Dutch to hold the world hour record
Van Dijk is the third Dutch person to hold the world hour record. Keetie van Oosten-Hage covered 43,082 kilometers in 1978 and held the record for eight years. In 2003 Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel recorded a distance of 46,065 kilometers, with which she held the record for almost twelve years.
For Van Dijk, improving the world hour record is a long-cherished dream come true. She had already been in Switzerland for two weeks to prepare optimally for her race. She set the world hour record in a specially designed time trial suit and on a specially made time trial bike.
With the men, Victor Campenaerts has been the world hour record holder since April 2019. The Belgian drove a distance of 55,089 kilometers in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Ellen van Dijk sharpened the world hour record on Tuesday.
Ellen van Dijk sharpened the world hour record on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters