Merckx: Voigt can beat the hour record

Eddy Merckx’s hour record of 49.431 kilometres, set in Mexico in 1972, has been the standard bearer for the event ever since the UCI decided to restrict the equipment available in 2000. Today (Thursday) Jens Voigt, who turned 43 on Wednesday, will become the first rider to tackle the hour since the rules were relaxed earlier this year.

Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.