NEW WOMEN'S HOUR RECORD
Evelyn Stevens sets new benchmark of 47.980 kilometres
A
merican Evelyn Stevens has smashed the women's UCI Hour Record with a new benchmark of 47.980 kilometres at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center Velodrome. She held a steady 48 km/h throughout, beating Australian Bridie O’Donnell’s previous record of 46.882km set at the Super-Drome in Adelaide in January. Stevens announced her record attempt at the beginning of February, two weeks after O’Donnell set her record. She was the second American to attempt the Hour Record after Molly Shaffer Van Houweling broke the long-standing record of 46.065km that Leontien van Moorsel set without aerodynamic gear in Mexico City in 2003. Van Houweling rode 46.273km in September 2015 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, only to be beaten by O’Donnell four months later. Van Houweling was present at Stevens’ event and provided viewers with commentary about the event. Stevens started conservatively, riding a 31.4-second opening lap, and then increased the pace to just under 25 seconds per lap, consistently, for the first 15 minutes of her event. She held an on-pace average speed of 48.014 km/h, still maintaining roughly 24 to 25 seconds per lap for the duration of her event. In her post attempt press conference, organised by USA Cycling, Evelyn talked about how deep she had to dig:
Cycling World
April 2016
“… of course it was a tonne of suffering. In my head I just kept saying ‘you can do one more lap, you can do one more lap. What’s the worst that can happen… I pass out.’ I’m happy that didn’t happen.”
13
13