Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara started an arms race in July when he expressed interest in pursuing the hour record, the maximum distance a cyclist can cover in a velodrome in 60 minutes. But on Tuesday, VeloNews reported that Cancellara does not approve of UCI rule changes that have modernized the event by allowing aerodynamic bikes and helmets.
鈥淎t the moment when I see all this hour record stuff, it鈥檚 just low level,鈥 Cancellara聽. He said that when he and his team from Trek Factory Racing started making noise about attempting the record, it became 鈥渉uge.鈥 Cancellara cited the quick succession of successful record attempts by Jens Voigt and Matthias Br盲ndle within a month of each other.
Cancellara says he wants to pursue a record in the style of Eddy Merckx, who set a record in 1972 on a traditional road bike. 鈥淚 still see that as another record, with the Merckx-style bike and with the normal [time trial] position,鈥 he told VeloNews. That version of the hour record has not been seriously attempted since 2005.