Dowsett fails against the hour record

Alex Dowsett gave his all but the step was probably too high. The Israel Start-Up Nation rider rose to the challenge of setting the hour record on the track in Aguascalientes, Mexico, where Victor Campenaerts completed the 55.089 kilometer distance in 60 minutes on April 16, 2019. After holding this record for just over a month with 52.937 kilometers before seeing his compatriot Bradley Wiggins smash it, thehe Briton has put all possible ingredients in this new attempt. Between the fastest track in the world, a prototype bike perfectly tuned for its morphology and a clear route plan in mind, Alex Dowsett set out with the ambition to exceed the 55 km bar and erase the Belgian rider from the shelves. . However, the violence of such an effort eventually got the better of his iron will. With his trainer, Alex Dowsett had agreed that a pace of 16”3 for a lap of 250 meters should allow to get the record of the hour.

Dowsett broke down in the second half of the race

A tempo that he did not necessarily try to follow at all costs at the start of his attempt, completing the first ten kilometers at 54.723km / h on average and with a delay on the passage times of Victor Campenaerts of less than half a second. However, the more laps passed, the greater the gap between the Briton’s performance and the record benchmarks. At the end of 20 kilometers, if he has to increase the pace with an average of 54.923km / h, Alex Dowsett was at that time almost three seconds behind and it did not go smoothly.. After five seconds of delay at 30 kilometers then ten at 40 kilometers, the Briton tried to resist the pain but without success. With almost 29 seconds of delay, or the equivalent of two laps, Alex Dowsett concluded his hour of suffering with 54.555 kilometers traveled. If he improved his personal best, he failed just over 500 meters behind Victor Campenaerts. Filippo Ganna, who intends to try his luck in 2022, is warned.