Cycling: Jens Voigt has set a new hour record. The 43-year-old improved the record of the Czech Ondrej Sosenka from 2005 by more than 1,4 kilometers.
At 19:00 p.m. sharp, Voigt entered the final hour of his racing career on the Holzoval in Grenchen. It should be a record ride. After a quick start and a restrained middle section, the Berliner by choice staged a brilliant finale. After one hour he had covered 51,115 kilometers!
The split times always spoke for themselves. After 10 kilometers he was already more than 12 seconds ahead of the old record. By kilometer 20, the distance had grown to over 24 seconds. Then Voigt slowed down a bit, but still increased the lead to over 34 seconds at 30 kilometers. Ten kilometers later it was 59,9 seconds. From then on there was no stopping him. The lap times leveled off in the lower 17-second range, the distance to Sosenka's record grew.
After an hour, Voigt could be celebrated - with standing ovations. Even before the start he had said that this would definitely be his last race as an active professional cyclist. It was a great moment, the record of which is now the benchmark for drivers like Fabian Cancellara, Bradley Wiggins and Tony Martin.
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