The experienced Dutch cyclist Ellen van Dijk broke the world record in the one-hour track race today, 23 May, with 49,254 meters in 60 minutes on the velodrome in Grenchen. The previous world record was 48,405 meters, held by Britain’s Jocelyn Lowden.
Lowden set the record in 2021, and it also happened on this very track. Then she improved the record of Italy’s Vittoria Bussia. Ellen van Dijk was excellent today – she led 197 laps and 4 meters with an average speed of 49.4 kilometers per hour. The Dutchwoman made a lap in just over 18 seconds. After the first 5 minutes Ellen was 6.5 seconds ahead of Jocelyn.
As she was going around the track, the Dutchwoman looked pretty collected and confident. In the second part the average speed dropped a little bit, but still the gap from Lowden’s performance was growing. The 35-year-old cyclist at one point accelerated again and rode a lap in 18.2 seconds. It wasn’t until the final minutes that fatigue finally took its toll and van Dijk began to reduce her lap rate. Nevertheless, the effort did look very strong.
I was very nervous at first. The plan was to speed up in the second half hour, but it didn’t really work out. It actually went a little slower than we had planned. After 45 minutes I really wanted to speed up, but I didn’t have much energy left, so I had to save what was left. I kept thinking that I couldn’t go higher than 18.5 seconds per lap. At one point I stopped hearing everything that was being shouted at me, and everything got a little blurry. I haven’t ridden on a bike track at that speed for that long. Anyway, I’m incredibly happy. That there’s a record, that it’s over. It was a great project. I had the support of family and friends, and of course my Trek team, Segafredo. Everyone put so much effort and time into this endeavor that I owe them a return for it. All I’m saying is, ride your bikes, have fun and feel good,” laughed Ellen van Dijk.