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The Hour Record

The Cycling World Hour Record is the most famous record in cycling, from 1893 to 2000 the best cyclists in the World have held the hour record including legends like Fausto Coppi or Eddy Merckx.
In all these years the hour record has seen innovative equipment. On september 9th 2000, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale - International Cycling Union) decided to create a "UCI Hour Record" as well as a "Best Hour Performance". From that day, the UCI Hour Record was the one that Eddy Merckx achieved in Mexico on 25th October 1972, covering a distance of 49.43195 km. This UCI Hour Record could only be attempted if the equipment was presented and checked beforehand by the UCI and it must be similar to that used by Merckx.
In may 2014 the UCI finally decided to abandon this rule and allow modern track bikes again. The record however was defined as the last record of the "UCI Hour Record" category (Ondrej Sosenka, 49.700 km in 2005).

Chronic of the Hour Record

Distance
(km) Rider Nation. Location Date Gearing Bike Weight (g) Crank Arm Cadence (rpm)
35.325 Henri Desgrange FRA Paris 11.5.1893
38.220 Jules Dubois FRA Paris 31.10.1894
39.240 Marcel Van den Eynde BEL Paris 30.7.1897
40.781 Willie Hamilton USA Denver 9.7.1898
41.110 Lucien Petit-Breton FRA Paris 24.08.1905
41.520 Marcel Berthet FRA Paris 20.06.1907
42.122 Oscar Egg ZWI Paris 26.08.1912 34x7=7,22m⁽²⁾ 8500 97,2
42.306 ⁰ Richard Weise WDL Berlin 27.7.1913
42.741 Marcel Berthet FRA Paris 07.08.1913
43.525 Oscar Egg ZWI Paris 21.08.1913
43.775 Marcel Berthet FRA Paris 21.09.1913
44.247 Oscar Egg ZWI Paris 18.06.1914 24x7=7,22m 102,1
44.588 Jan Van Hout NED Roermond 25.08.1933
44.777 Maurice Richard FRA St. Truiden 29.08.1933 24x7=7,32m 8500 101,9
45.090 Giuseppe Olmo ITA Milano 31.10.1935 24x7=7,32m 8000 102,7
45.398³ Maurice Richard FRA Milano 14.10.1936 24x7=7,32m 8000 172 103,4
45.558³ Frans Slaats NED Milano 29.09.1937 24x7=7,32m 8000 103,7
45.840³ Maurice Archambaud FRA Milano 04.11.1937 24x7=7,32m 171 104,4
45.871³ Fausto Coppi ITA Milano 07.11.1942 52x15=7,40m 9500 171 103,3
46.159 Jacques Anquetil FRA Milano 29.06.1956 52x15=7,40m 7300 104,0
46.393 Ercole Baldini ITA Milano 19.09.1956 6450
46.924 Roger Riviere FRA Milano 18.09.1957 52x15=7,40m 6450 171 105,7
47.346 Roger Riviere FRA Milano 23.09.1958 53x15=7,54m 6850 175 104,7
47.493 ¹ Jaques Anquetil FRA Milano 27.09.1967 52x13=8,54m 6690 175 92,7
48.093 Ferdinand Bracke BEL Rome 30.10.1967 53x15=7,54m 5960 175 106,3
48.653 Ole Ritter DEN Mexico City 10.10.1968 54x15=7,69m 7000 175 105,4
49.431 Eddy Merckx BEL Mexico City 25.10.1972 52x14=7,93m 5750 175 103,9
50.808 Francesco Moser ITA Mexico City 19.01.1984 56x15=8,12m 7850 175 104,3
51.151 Francesco Moser ITA Mexico City 23.01.1984 57x15=8,27m 7500 175 103,1
51.596 Graeme Obree GBR Hamar 17.07.1993 52x12=9,25m 175 93,0
52.270 Chris Boardman GBR Bordeaux 23.07.1993 53x13=8,56m 7100 175 101,8
52.713 Graeme Obree GBR Bordeaux 27.04.1994 175
53.040 Miguel Indurain ESP Bordeaux 02.09.1994 59x14=8,76m 6500 190 100,9
53.832 Tony Rominger ZWI Bordeaux 22.10.1994 59x14=8,85m 8300 172,5 101,4
55.291 Tony Rominger ZWI Bordeaux 05.11.1994 60x14=9.02m 8300 172,5 102,2
56.375 Chris Boardman GBR Manchester 06.09.1996 56x13=8,95m 170 ? 105,0

⁰ Unofficial after remeasurement of the track ¹ Unofficial record, because Anquetil did not show up at the drug test
² Must be a typo on the original page ³ Different numbers, look here

UCI Hour Record

49.441	Chris Boardman	GBR	Manchester	27.10.2000	54x14
49.700	Ondrej Sosenka	TCH	Moscow	19.07.2005	54x13	9800	190

Hour Record since 2014

51.115	Jens Voigt	GER	Grenchen	18.09.2014	55x14=8,25m⁰		103,3
51.852	Matthias Braendle	AUT	Aigle	30.10.2014	55x13=8,88m⁰		97,3
52.491	Rohan Dennis	AUS	Grenchen	08.02.2015	56x14=8,40m⁰		104,2
52.937	Alex Dowsett	GBR	Manchester	02.05.2015	55x13=8,88m⁰		99,4
54.526	Bradley Wiggins	GBR	London	07.06.2015	58x14=8,70m⁰		104.5
55.089	Victor Campenaerts	BEL	Aguascalientes	16.04.2019	61x14=9,15m⁰		100,3
55.548	Dan Bigham	GBR	Grenchen	19.08.2022	64x14=9,60m⁰		96,4
56.792	Filippo Ganna	ITA	Grenchen	08.10.2022	65x14=9,75m⁰	170	97,1

⁰Estimated for a wheel circumference of 210 cm

Most of the first table could be found in the german "Bruegelmann-Radsport" Catalog some years ago. Look here for the original page.

Hour Records in Detail

Hour Records from 1956 - 1972

The Legends: Baldini, Riviere, Bracke, Ritter, Merckx

Hour Records from 1984 - 1996

DIST	Moser 23.01.84	Obree 17.07.93	Boardman 23.07.93	Obree 27.04.94	Indurain 02.09.94	Rominger 29.10.94	Rominger 05.11.94	Boardman 06.09.96
1 km					01'14.5''	01'12.6''	01'10.6''	01'10.8''
5 km	05'47.2''	05'47.1''	05'48.5''	5'39.0''	05'43.9"	05'39.1"	05'30.3"	05'27.0"
10 km	11'40.7''	11'32.9''	11'30.8''	11'18.1''	11'20.0"	11'10.4"	10'53.5"	10'47.1''
15 km	17'30.5''	17'22.1''	17'13.4''	16'57.0''	16'58.9"	16'42.4"	16'17.2"	16'05.5''
20 km	23'21.6''	23'11.4''	22'56.5''	22'39.0''	22'38.5"	22'15.6"	21'42.9"	21'23.9"
25 km	29'14.8''	29'00.5''	28'41.5''	28'21.9''	28'18.3"	27'49.7"	27'08.7"	26'42.5''
30 km	35'07.8''	34'50.8''	34'25.5''	34'04.3''	33'58.3"	33'26.3"	32'25.0"	32'00.5"
35 km	41'00.3''	40'39.8''	40'11.1''	39'46.9''	39'33.4"	39'02.4"	38'00.5"	37'20.7''
40 km	46'52.0''	46'30.4''	45'57.3''	45'30.7''	45'13.8"	44'36.9"	43'26.9"	42'41.3"
45 km	52'45.9''	52'20.0''	51'43.4''	51'14.0''	50'55.9"	50'12.6"	48'53.6"	48'01.1''
50 km	58'40.1''	58'09.5''	57'28.7''	56'54.5''	56'34.2"	55'48.2"	54'18.7"	53'21.7"
55 km							59'41.7"	58'35.5''
1 hour	51.151 km	51.596 km	52.270 km	52,713 km	53.040 km	53.832 km	55.291 km	56.375

2000-2014: The UCI Hour Record

My UCI hour record page.

Hour Records since 2014

DIST	Voigt 18.09.14	Braendle 30.10.14	Dennis 08.02.15	Dowsett 02.05.15	Wiggings 07.06.15	Campenaerts 16.04.19	Bigham 19.08.22	Ganna 08.10.22
1 km	1'14.0''	1'15.0''	1'14.4''	1'16.1''	01'11.7''?	01'13.3''	01'15.3''	01'13.3''
5 km	5'56.1''	05'49.1''	05'45.9''	5'48.3''	05'33" ?	05'33.4"	05'39.7"	05'35.3"
10 km	11'48.7''	11'32.0''	11'26.5''	11'29.7''	11'01.9"	10'57.4"	11'09.0"	11'0.6"
15 km	17'42.8''	17'16.6''	17'07.6''	17'11.7''	16'30.4"	16'21.9"	16'36.6"	16'22.2"
20 km	23'39.2''	23'01.1''	22'47.6''	22'53.6''	21'59.3"	21'48.0"	22'01.5"	21'41.5"
25 km	29'36.3''	28'46.5''	28'27.5''	28'35.6''	27'28.0"	27'13.8"	27'24.2"	26'59.3"
30 km	35'32.8''	34'31.8''	34'06.1''	34'14.2''	32'57.2"	32'39.0"	32'45.2"	32'14.3"
35 km	41'27.5'	40'19.6''	39'46.1''	39'52.5''	38'27.0"	38'05.2"	38'06.3"	37'27.5"
40 km	47'26.7''	46'07.9''	45'26.8''	45'33.1''	43'56.5"	43'32.5"	43'25.8"	42'36.5"
45 km	53'01.2''	52'01.3''	51'12.5''	51'11.0''	49'27.4"	49'01.4"	48'44.9"	47'43.8"
50 km	58'44.2''	57'51.5''	57'03.5''	56'46.7''	54'59.6"	54'29.0"	54'04.4"	52'52.9"
55 km						59'54.3"	59'24.7"	58'7.2"
1 hour	51.115 km	51.852 km	52.270 km	52,937 km	54.526 km	55.089 km	55.548 km	56.792 km

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