The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is delighted to announce that Dame Sarah Storey will attempt to break the UCI Hour Record. Her attempt will take place on Saturday February 28th 2015 at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London. She will be the first female rider to go after cycling’s iconic record since its rules changed in May this year. 

Dame Sarah Storey is Great Britain’s most decorated female Paralympian with six gold medals in road and track cycling across the last two Paralympic Games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012) in addition to the five gold, eight silver and three bronze she won as a swimmer in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. 

Dame Sarah Storey’s attempt on the UCI Hour Record comes 60 years after the first mark (38.473km) was set by Soviet athlete Tamara Novikova in 1955. The existing record of 46.065km was established in Mexico City in 2003 by Dutch rider Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel. 

In May this year, the UCI took steps to modernise and simplify the rules regarding the UCI Hour Record; the record can now be tackled using any bicycle that conforms to the rules defining the characteristics of the bicycles used in endurance track events. Following the rule change, German athlete Jens Voigt set a new record for the men on September 18th (51.110 km) which was beaten just six weeks later by Austrian Matthias Brändle (51.852 km). 

UCI President Brian Cookson welcomed Dame Sarah Storey’s attempt: “After two UCI Hour Records in quick succession for the men, I am very pleased that the existing women’s record will now be challenged. In amending the regulations, the UCI hoped for exactly this kind of motivation from the world’s best athletes. Dame Sarah Storey’s attempt will be eagerly awaited and I am sure it will prompt other top women riders to try to claim this prestigious record.” 

Dame Sarah Storey added: “I’m excited and nervous at the prospect of being the first woman to take on the record in over a decade. I did a couple of days’ testing up at the Manchester Velodrome to try and work out the output that would be involved over an hour to have a realistic chance of challenging the record and we decided that if I can arrive in good shape I stood a fighting chance. Logistically it fits in just about perfectly with the plans I already had put in place for next year which centre around the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships at the end of March - when I will be entering the individual pursuit, 500m time trial and scratch race.” 

The British athlete’s UCI Hour Record attempt will take place as part of Round 5 of the Revolution Series, a Class 1 event on the UCI International calendar.