Belgian para-cyclist Ewoud Vromant (C2) has broken the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot, covering the distance of 46,521 kilometres at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland.
Ewoud Vromant’s performance is a continuation of his world-class results over recent years, which include a silver medal in the Individual Time Trial at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and multiple medals at the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. Vromant takes the UCI Hour Record from Ireland’s Colin Lynch, who covered 43.133 kilometres on 1 October 2016 in Manchester (Great Britain).
After his successful attempt, Ewoud Vromant said: “It was a lot harder than I thought, I was expected to ride on the first 20 minutes with some reserve and then to go all out on the second half, but after 15 minutes I was already at my limit, but I managed to keep the pace and lap time. I am super happy with my distance and my lap time who was very consistent.
“Switzerland isn’t so far from Belgium so my family and friends came to support. I could sometimes hear the voices of my children and my brother which helped me a lot.”
Today, the duo of Griet Hoet and Anneleen Monsieur, who were bronze medallists on the track at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, tried to surpass the mark of 42.930 kilometres set by Australians Lindy Hou and Tolrrasa Gallagher on 19 September 2005 in Sydney (Australia).
The pair were however unable to complete the sixty minutes after Griet Hoet fainted before the end of the record attempt. Both riders are safe, and no fall has been reported. The UCI wishes Griet Hoet a swift recovery.
Para-cycling sport classes
C – Cyclist: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary
T – Tricycle: three-wheeled bike
B – Visually impaired: tandem bicycle ridden with sighted pilot
H – Handbike
Each group is divided into different sport classes (1 to 5), with the lower the number indicating greater impairment.
