Czech Ondrej Sosenka sets new world one-hour cycling record of 49.7 km

Czech cyclist Ondrej Sosenka has set a new world one-hour cycling record, riding an amazing 49.7 km in 60 minutes. The previous record of 49,441 m was set by Britain's Chris Boardman five years ago.

Ondrej Sosenka, photo: CTK

The setting for Sosenka's triumph was Moscow's Krylatskoje Olympic Velodrome, which has a longer track than most venues - 333 m as opposed to the usual 250 m.

Perhaps surprisingly there were only around 40 people in the hall on Tuesday, something the 29-year-old time-trial specialist says helped him. The conditions were right and from the very outset he was under the record. Here's Ondrej Sosenka himself:

Ondrej Sosenka, photo: CTK

"It was an advantage that I was informed of the time in a really detailed way. I went into the event thinking about just one thing - that I had to fight hard for that record, and from the very start I was a bit ahead of the record time.

"After around ten minutes I conserved energy a bit and just stayed at that time. Then the last 10, 15 minutes were really hard and on some laps I lost a little, but in the end I beat the record by a couple of hundred metres. But it was really hard."

And he cut it tight - equalling Chris Boardman's distance just 19 seconds before the gruelling hour was up. Sosenka was 300 m short of the magical 50 km mark; he says he will try and reach it, perhaps in a year's time.

One interesting thing is that Ondrej Sosenka has set what's called the Athlete's Hour Record, in which cyclists have to use the same kind of technology used by the great Belgian rider Eddy Merckx back in 1972, when he set a record of 49,431 m.

There is also something called the Absolute Hour Record, in which special aerodynamic bicycles and clothing are permitted.