Having talked up an attempt at the World Hour Record in the past, Filippo Ganna is set to take on the challenge later this year, with August 23-24 set aside for his attempt.
The Italian will take on the challenge at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland – the same venue that Ellen van Dijk will make her attempt on Monday, May 23 – reports La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Ganna is currently at an altitude training camp at Mount Teide in Tenerife ahead of his return to racing following the end of his spring block at Paris-Roubaix. He'll take on the Critérium du Dauphiné in June before racing the Italian time trial Championships on June 22.
The major goal of his summer is set to be the Tour de France, which kicks off on July 1 with a 13km time trial in Copenhagen, an opportunity for Ganna to take the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
The Tour will end on July 24 in Paris, leaving just a month to prepare for the World Hour Record, should Ganna finish the race.
As he prepares for the attempt, Ganna will work with Ineos Grenadiers directeur sportif Dario Cioni as well as Marco Villa, the technical commissioner for Italy's track teams.
The 25-year-old will head to Switzerland for the attempt, with the Velodrome Suisse having previously hosted the European Track Championships last year. The velodrome is at 451 metres altitude, a far cry from the high-altitude Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico, which lies 1,887 metres above sea level and has hosted numerous World Hour Record attempts in recent years.
The current World Hour Record is currently held by Victor Campenaerts, who set a distance of 55.089 kilometres at Aguascalientes in April 2019.
Ganna has long been tipped as a favourite to push the record even further, given his time trialling and track prowess. As well as being two-time time trial world champion on the road, he's also a European and world champion in the Individual Pursuit on the track and has Team Pursuit titles to his name at Olympic, European, and world levels.
Last year, following Alex Dowsett's World Hour Record attempt, Campenaerts tipped Ganna to smash his record.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he did around 57.5km," Campaenaerts said. "The pity then it that it will be the last World Hour Record for many decades. Nobody will want to try it again."
