| Subject: | Re: Help get OLN added to our cable service and watch the 2001 tou |
| Date: | 10/27/2000 12:23 AM |
| From: | Jon Walpole |
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The odds of ATT adding OLN to your regular cable linup (when they know you really don't have much choice in Cable services) are about the same as my chances of bettering Eddy Merckx's hour record, i.e. slim to none Hey, I just read that Eddy Merckx no longer holds the World hour record ;-) Way to go Chris! See below. Jon Boardman breaks Merckx mark Chris Boardman became the first male cyclist to successfully attempt the men's Hour Record under the new UCI rules when he rode 49.441 kilometres, marginally beating the nominal standard of 49.431 kilometres set by Eddy Merckx in 1972. However, he had to fight until the end, falling 0.1 km/h behind with just five minutes to go. An amazing last three laps, which he called "the hardest three laps of my life" pushed him up over the average, so that he finished 10 metres "ahead" of Merckx. Afterwards, he nearly collapsed and had to be assisted in stepping off the bike by his team manager Roger Legeay and wife Sally-Anne. "I've never been in so much pain after a race," he said, attributing it to riding in a crouched position on the drop handlebars. The same pain was experienced by Anna Wilson 10 days ago. "If I had known how hard it would be, I would never have attempted it. I now know how much pain Merckx felt." He affirmed that it was the last race of his career, and it was certainly an impressive and gutsy way to go out. It could so easily have gone the other way. "I'm glad every one walked away happy," he said. There was some controversy surrounding the ride, as Boardman had previously thought that whatever distance he rode would be accepted as the new standard. However, the UCI confirmed that Merckx' 1972 mark was the record just two and a half hours before he started his ride, placing extra pressure on him. The previous day, he had said that "40 kilometres would still be a new record," although he was still aiming for 49.5 kilometres for the sake of honour. Boardman's business manager, Peter Woodworth described him as "very upset" at the "last minute" revelation that he would need to beat Eddy Merckx' mark for it to be considered a record. Hein Verbruggen (UCI president) even telephoned Roger Legeay on the day to clarify things. It could have been embarrassing and unfortunate if the 10 metre difference had been the other way, as then both parties would have had some explaining to do, especially regarding the legality of Merckx' bike. Boardman added that future record attempts should be made at sea level in order to keep the conditions similar. He now holds both UCI recognised records, the "Best Hour Performance" at 56.375 kilometres, and the Hour Record, at 49.444 kilometres, with the latter subject to ratification by the UCI over the next few weeks. Data for the attempt km time 5 6.04.016 10 12.03.889 15 18.04.635 20 24.06.975 25 30.11.663 30 36.18.409 35 42.27.043 40 48.33.402 45 54.40.588 46 55.53.916 47 57.06.713 48 58.17.899 49 59.29.264 49.25 59.46.661 (lap 197) 49.50 60.04.041 (lap 198) Last lap time: 17.380 s Last lap time fraction: 13.339 s Distance = 250 x 13.339/17.380 = 191.872 m Official distance: 49.441872 km |
