Chris Boardman has reclaimed the hour record that had been disallowed by recent UCI decisions on aero bikes. By outlawing aero bars, streamlined frames and aero wheels the UCI effectively set the record distance back to Merckx’s 49.431 kilometers (30.716 miles) achieved in Mexico City in 1972.

Although Boardman had set a record of 56.375 kilometers (35.031 miles) in 1996, his use of a fully aero carbon bike had voided the mark, which has now been re-termed the “Best Hour Performance” by the UCI.

This time Boardman hammered the final laps in front of an electrified capacity crowd at the Manchester Velodorome sprinting across the line to beat Merckx’s record by a mere 11 meters (36 feet), covering 49.442 kilometers (30.723 miles) in one hour.

This will be Boardman’s final professional ride before retirement after he revealed he’s been suffering from a form of bone wasting disease possibly related to his crash in the Tour De France prologue several years ago.
After an unsuprisingly dissapointing Tour De France and Olympic performance the reclaiming of the record is a fitting end to the career of one of Britains greatest ever riders.

For full results of the World Track Championships see the
UCI website .