The UCI have announced that British rider Joscelin Lowden will attempt to break the Hour Record this Autumn. Lowden, who rides for UCI Continental team Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur on the road, unofficially broke the current record of 48.007km, held by Vittoria Bussi, in a training simulation earlier this year. Lowden managed 48.160km in that ride.
Lowden started her cycling career in 2017 riding the UK national series on an amateur team before moving on to Dame Sarah Storey’s eponymous UCI squad, Storey Racing, for 2018. Still a relative newcomer to the sport in her late twenties, Lowden quickly racked up a series of impressive domestic results and moved to Drops mid-way through 2019 where she has since stayed.
Lowden's only road race in 2020 was the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, where she took 12th overall. In a similar effort to the Hour, Lowden won the British 25-mile Championships later that season, riding 40.23-kilometre course in a time of 52:14.
The British-based rider has a time trialling pedigree and has won the national 10-mile championships. She was part of the bronze medal winning mixed relay team at the 2019 World Championships in Yorkshire. This season she has taken fifth place at Brabantse Pijl and recently won the overall at the Tour de Feminine’s after winning the final stage by a margin of over five minutes.
Lowden will travel to Switzerland next month and her attempt will take place on 30th September at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen (Switzerland).
"I'm really pleased to be able to officially announce I am planning an attempt to break the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot at the end of September this year,” said Lowden.
"It’s an idea that's been in the making for some time and with the support of Le Col and Wattshop, I'm now in a place to be able to make the attempt. Vittoria Bussi has set a high bar with her record at altitude, but I trust with the support and right preparation I should be able to give the record a good nudge.”
To make an attempt at the UCI Hour record, a rider must fulfill stringent criteria set out by the governing body including being in the UCI Registered Testing Pool, notifying them in writing, drawing up a contract and agreeing to have their bike and other components submitted to the Technical Department at least 15 days prior to the event.
