Jens Voigt, a fav. with this forumite, recently trumpeted his retirement by setting the 1 hour cycling record, ie. greatest distance covered in 1 hour. Of course it has to be done indoors as varying road and weather conditions would make comparisons impossible. The sports governing body recently modified their regulations, which had previously excluded the use of modern bikes for this event, thus making it an attractive and achievable target for some of the present day pros.
Jens covered just over 51kms in the hour. That's not a record which will last very long, and indeed is under threat later today.
Matthias Brandle, the young Austrian time trial champion is the first one having a crack at it, close to his team's base in Switzerland, and Paddy Power think he's big odds on to get it done. He might well succeed, but he's riding a shorter velodrome circuit than Jens did, and that means more bends and harder work, and I certainly wouldn't be looking to invest any dosh on the outcome. (live on Eurosport around 6 pm) Not gripping stuff, but the final 10 minutes might be good, especially when he starts to wilt with the goal in sight.
Others might fancy having a go in the coming months in the hope of setting the record before Bradley Wiggins sets a much more serious marker when he tackles it. All speculation at the moment, but it seems fairly certain that Wiggo will have a crack next year, and in a 50km time trial around a velodrome I'd expect Wiggins to be some 4 minutes ahead of either Brandle or Jens.
