Cycling: Several professional cyclists have announced that they want to improve the hour record in the coming year. The women's world record is also set to be broken in February.
Australians Jack Bobridge and Rohan Dennis have announced their intention to break the current hour record. Bobridge will conduct his attempt in Melbourne on January 31st, a few days ahead of his compatriot. On February 8th in Grenchen in Switzerland he wants to attack the current record of the Austrian Matthias Brändle. In October, Brändle set a record of 51,852 kilometers. Dennis will tackle the challenge of the world hour record at the Velodrome Suisse, where Jens Voigt was the first player to break the world hour record since the rule change in September. He is more positive: "If the excitement is not too great at the beginning and I keep my nerve, the rest will take care of itself." Bobridge is also convinced that he has good chances when it comes to the future world record: "I think so will set a record that will make everyone after me reconsider whether they really want to attempt a record or not.”
Alongside Bobridge and Dennis, Alex Dowsett and Bradley Wiggins have also announced plans to challenge the record in 2015.
The world student record also seems to be of interest to women. Britain's Sarah Storey wants to become the first cyclist since the rule change in May to take on the current record of 46,065 kilometers set by Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel in 2003. After a few days of testing at the Manchester Velodrome, she has come to the conclusion that if she is in good shape, she has a realistic chance of beating the record. Born with a deformed left hand, Storey had her first major successes as a swimmer at the 2004 Paralympics. A year later she switched to cycling due to an ear infection and that year rode in the British Championships in the points race.
UCI President Cookson is pleased that the hour record is now receiving so much attention: "By changing the rules, the UCI hoped for exactly this kind of motivation for the world's best athletes."