The UCI World Hour Record has a new queen. Vittoria Bussi's dream to become the record holder of the prestigious record became a reality on September 13th, 2018. It's an epic and historical achievement that we would like to celebrate with this epilogue.
VITTORIA’S HOUR RECORD
You can read my first article introducing Vittoria Bussi on this page and the second article which I wrote close to the attempt here. To break the hour record, you ride as fast as possible for one hour in a velodrome. The total distance you cover at the 1 hr mark is your number. Vittoria rode 48.007 km and beat the previous record of 47.980 km by Evelyn Stevens (USA).
The way she reached the goal makes the record even more epic. September 12th at 3 pm CT was the day planned for the attempt at the Aguascalientes (Mexico) velodrome. Things did not go well and she stopped after 44 min in pain and discomfort. She was riding at record pace but that does not matter because she could not continue. We all thought that it was over.
Vittoria does not have a formal team and she took care of many details and planning herself. In the early stages of the planning, she booked the velodrome for two consecutive days because "you never know." Very few people knew about that and frankly I forgot about it.
The following day Vittoria Bussi nailed it in one of the most incredible comebacks in cycling history. I asked Vittoria about those days.
Twitter feed showing the September 12th and September 13th Would Hour Record attempt Tweets
Vittoria, what was the worst moment of the attempt?
"The first 20', when I was still really tired from the attempt of the day before and psychologically destroyed again because of the failure of the day before. "
"The last 20', when I usually started to get tired and decrease the speed in training, instead, on the day of the attempt, I enjoyed so much those long minutes, I saw my dream was just 20' away from me, I started to realize I could do it. It will be always in my memory."
"I think that I and my family deserved a success after all the efforts and sacrifices. The best memories apart from the record itself are in fact the celebrations with all the people that lived those years close to me, encouraging me in all the bad periods I had, and believing always in me. A surprise: so many messages from people I have never met, saying that I was an inspiration for them to pursue their dream, in sport but most amazing, in life in general, and this was exactly the message I wanted to pass to the world, be inspiring and never give up on dreams. Finally, it was worth from the athletic side, as it gave me a really good shape to race at a strong level also on the road."
Foto credit: Endura Sports
Tourissimo came on board as a sponsor last April when Vittoria had to raise money for a training camp at the same velodrome of the attempt. I am so proud when I see Tourissimo on her custom Drag2Zero Endura skinsuit. One or two main sponsors would allow her to aim at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. If you would like to associate your - cycling or non cycling - company with a world class athlete contact me and I will put you in touch.
Foto credit: Endura Sports
