What began as a few riders announcing their intentions to challenge the coveted Hour Record, soon turned into almost a monthly occurrence Now, pronouncements are happening on a weekly, if not daily basis.
In fact, at this point, the Hour Record is almost deserving of its own reality show.
In any event, Jack Bobridge is the latest rider to throw down the gauntlet, and announce his plans to tackle the "Hour" – next month.
The Australian rider will attempt to break the Hour Record on January 31, at the Darebin International Sports Center in Melbourne.
"I think it’s great that everyone is starting to put their hand up for it. It makes it more interesting," Bobridge said. "I’m aiming to set a benchmark that leaves everyone questioning themselves about whether they want to do it or not.
"At this point I can see myself beating the current hour record but it’s how much further I can go that will be decided on the day."
"I never thought I would break Boardman’s individual pursuit record, I don’t think anyone thought I’d beat it", said Bobridge who was the Commonwealth Games gold medallist in the IP in 2014 and 2010.
Cycling Australia’s Track coach, Tim Decker, feels that Bodridge can beat the current mark, which was set by Matthias Brändle back in October.
"He’s the world individual pursuit record holder so the hour is an obvious choice," said Decker. "I have no doubt that he can do it. You look at his four-kilometer time and you look at what is possible over an hour, Jack should be able to well surpass the current record."
Decker added that the resurgence of the Hour Record, has proven to be a major attraction for the sport.
"It captures people’s imagination to see how far you can go in one hour. People from outside of cycling will look at it and think ‘wow, that’s a long way in one hour on a bike’. Jack is going to tackle this in Jack Bobridge fashion,’ he said. "He’s unlimited. He’s just going to go for it. I think it will be really exciting and you’ll definitely see him in a lot of pain, particularly in the last 10-minutes.
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