Radpsort: After the world cycling association UCI announced a change in the rules regarding the hour world record last week, the hottest contenders for the record at the moment expressed their views.
Above all, Fabian Cancellara's (Trek) change of heart should come as a surprise. After the Swiss put his plans on hold a few weeks ago, he now has them completely to act placed.
"For me, tackling the record was based on the thrill of competing against riders from the past", according to the Swiss. “I would have loved to have driven the classics against Eddy Merckx. But this is not possible. The world hour record has therefore seemed very charming to me so far. But now the situation is different.”
However, Cancellara resisted being dated. "I'm not against development. Everyone knows that. I spend a lot of time developing better bikes with Trek. That was also our goal for the world record. We wanted to have the best Merckx-style bike there is.”
Bradley Wiggins' statements, on the other hand, sound completely different. Unlike Cancellara, he can imagine chasing the hour record. However, he is also aware of the importance of the changes: “The question arises why the rules have now been changed. A whole decade is missing from the story.", according to the Brit, who added: "It's good that the rules have now been changed."
Wiggins has his own ambitions. "I would like to do it. [...] I've always said that I'd like to compete with Miguel Indurain over the hour. It's possible again now, so I'm considering an attack.”
What is exciting about both statements is that they each refer to the history of the hourly world record, although the reference is different in each case. It remains to be seen whether they will follow their statements.