July 25, 2005 – With all eyes on the Tour de France last week, Ondrej Sosenka managed to break one of cycling’s most presitgious records that was held by time trialist extraordinaire, now retired, Chris Boardman.

The result came as a shock to many – there was very little fanfare that he was going to try to break the record – he rode 49.700km, just 259m more than the Brit, and although the Russian does ride with the Acqua e Sapone team and has won time trials in his life – this year, the stage 4 test in the Tour of Belgium – he is not a household celebrity like previous riders.

The hour record is now set on a standard bike with standard bars and wheels – something galvanized by Boardman himself to pay tribute and “equalize” the riders of old, like Eddy Merckx. However, Sosenka did use an extra-heavy backwheel and extraordinarily long cranks – apparently 190mm, in order to create more leverage for his machine; the heavy wheel was thought to make the average speed easier to maintain once it was reached.

Although this hour record – known as the Athlete’s Hour Record, has now been broken, Boardman’s Absolute Hour Record – using any sort of bike or clothing, still stands at 56.375km.