The Hour Record

The Cycling World Hour Record is the most famous record in cycling, from 1893 to 2000 the best cyclists in the World have held the hour record including legends like Fausto Coppi or Eddy Merckx.
In all these years the hour record has seen innovative equipment. But on september 9th 2000, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale - International Cycling Union) decided to create a "UCI Hour Record" as well as a "Best Hour Performance". From that day, the UCI Hour Record was the one that Eddy Merckx achieved in Mexico on 25th October 1972, covering a distance of 49.43195 km. This UCI Hour Record can only be attempted if the equipment is presented and checked beforehand by the UCI and it must be similar to that used by Merckx.
I think this rule is nonsense !!! There should be some reglementations, but also some creativity! I don't know any other sport which stepped back 30 years in history...
The records on this page are true "hour records" from 1893 until 1996 (so far...) !!! For the "new" UCI records look at my UCI hour record page.

Distcance (km)	Rider	Nation.	Location	Date	Gearing	Bike Weight (g)	Crank Arm	Cadence (rpm)
35.325	Henri Desgrange	FRA	Paris	11.5.1893
38.220	Jules Dubois	FRA	Paris	31.10.1894
39.240	Marcel Van den Eynde	BEL	Paris	30.7.1897
40.781	Willie Hamilton	USA	Denver	9.7.1898
41.110	Lucien Petit-Breton	FRA	Paris	24.08.1905
41.520	Marcel Berthet	FRA	Paris	20.06.1907
42.122	Oscar Egg	ZWI	Paris	26.08.1912	34x7=7,22m(2)	8500		97,2
42.306 0	Richard Weise	WDL	Berlin	27.7.1913
42.741	Marcel Berthet	FRA	Paris	07.08.1913
43.525	Oscar Egg	ZWI	Paris	21.08.1913
43.775	Marcel Berthet	FRA	Paris	21.09.1913
44.247	Oscar Egg	ZWI	Paris	18.06.1914	24x7=7,22m			102,1
44.588	Jan Van Hout	NED	Roermond	25.08.1933
44.777	Maurice Richard	FRA	St. Truiden	29.08.1933	24x7=7,32m	8500		101,9
45.090	Giuseppe Olmo	ITA	Milano	31.10.1935	24x7=7,32m	8000		102,7
45.3983	Maurice Richard	FRA	Milano	14.10.1936	24x7=7,32m	8000	172	103,4
45.5583	Frans Slaats	NED	Milano	29.09.1937	24x7=7,32m	8000		103,7
45.8403	Maurice Archambaud	FRA	Milano	04.11.1937	24x7=7,32m		171	104,4
45.8713	Fausto Coppi	ITA	Milano	07.11.1942	52x15=7,40m	9500	171	103,3
46.159	Jacques Anquetil	FRA	Milano	29.06.1956	52x15=7,40m	7300		104,0
46.393	Ercole Baldini	ITA	Milano	19.09.1956		6450
46.924	Roger Riviere	FRA	Milano	18.09.1957	52x15=7,40m	6450	171	105,7
47.346	Roger Riviere	FRA	Milano	23.09.1958	53x15=7,54m	6850	175	104,7
47.493 1	Jaques Anquetil	FRA	Milano	27.09.1967	52x13=8,54m	6690	175	92,7
48.093	Ferdinand Bracke	BEL	Rome	30.10.1967	53x15=7,54m	5960	175	106,3
48.653	Ole Ritter	DEN	Mexico City	10.10.1968	54x15=7,69m	7000	175	105,4
49.431	Eddy Merckx	BEL	Mexico City	25.10.1972	52x14=7,93m	5750	175	103,9
50.808	Francesco Moser	ITA	Mexico City	19.01.1984	56x15=8,12m	7850	175	104,3
51.151	Francesco Moser	ITA	Mexico City	23.01.1984	57x15=8,27m	7500	175	103,1
51.596	Graeme Obree	GBR	Hamar	17.07.1993	52x12=9,25m		175	93,0
52.270	Chris Boardman	GBR	Bordeaux	23.07.1993	53x13=8,56m	7100	175	101,8
52.713	Graeme Obree	GBR	Bordeaux	27.04.1994			175
53.040	Miguel Indurain	ESP	Bordeaux	02.09.1994	59x14=8,76m	6500	190	100,9
53.832	Tony Rominger	ZWI	Bordeaux	22.10.1994	59x14=8,85m	8300	172,5	101,4
55.291	Tony Rominger	ZWI	Bordeaux	05.11.1994	60x14=9.02m	8300	172,5	102,2
56.375	Chris Boardman	GBR	Manchester	06.09.1996	56x13=8,95m		170 ?	105,0

⁰ Unofficial after remeasurement of the track ¹ Unofficial record, because Anquetil did not show up at the drug test
² Must be a typo on the original page
³ Different numbers, look here
 

This table could be found in the german "Bruegelmann-Radsport" Catalog some years ago. Look here for the original page.

Records from 1956 - 1972

DIST	Moser 23.01.84	Obree 17.07.93	Boardman 23.07.93	Obree 27.04.94	Indurain 02.09.94	Rominger 29.10.94	Rominger 05.11.94	Boardman 06.09.96
1 km					01'14.5''	01'12.6''	01'10.6''	01'10.8''
5 km	05'47.2''	05'47.1''	05'48.5''	5'39.0''	05'43.9"	05'39.1"	05'30.3"	05'27.0"
10 km	11'40.7''	11'32.9''	11'30.8''	11'18.1''	11'20.0"	11'10.4"	10'53.5"	10'47.1''
15 km	17'30.5''	17'22.1''	17'13.4''	16'57.0''	16'58.9"	16'42.4"	16'17.2"	16'05.5''
20 km	23'21.6''	23'11.4''	22'56.5''	22'39.0''	22'38.5"	22'15.6"	21'42.9"	21'23.9"
25 km	29'14.8''	29'00.5''	28'41.5''	28'21.9''	28'18.3"	27'49.7"	27'08.7"	26'42.5''
30 km	35'07.8''	34'50.8''	34'25.5''	34'04.3''	33'58.3"	33'26.3"	32'25.0"	32'00.5"
35 km	41'00.3''	40'39.8''	40'11.1''	39'46.9''	39'33.4"	39'02.4"	38'00.5"	37'20.7''
40 km	46'52.0''	46'30.4''	45'57.3''	45'30.7''	45'13.8"	44'36.9"	43'26.9"	42'41.3"
45 km	52'45.9''	52'20.0''	51'43.4''	51'14.0''	50'55.9"	50'12.6"	48'53.6"	48'01.1''
50 km	58'40.1''	58'09.5''	57'28.7''	56'54.5''	56'34.2"	55'48.2"	54'18.7"	53'21.7"
55 km							59'41.7"
1 hour	51.151 km	51.596 km	52.270 km	52,713 km	53.040 km	53.832 km	55.291 km	56.375

With the information of the 5 km split-times one can easily calculate the speed of the rider during the last 5 km and the average speed at that moment.
I created some plots showing these two values.

• Francesco Moser: The first man beyond 50 km/h
• The sensational Graeme Obree
• The empire strikes back: Chris Boardman
• Obree's revenge
• Miguel Indurain: The "Extraterrestrial" sets a new record
• Incredible: Tony Rominger 55.291 km/h
• Chris Boardman smashes Rominger's record: 56.375 km/h

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