Cometh the hour, but for a short time only

Are you a member of the pro-peloton’s mainly anonymous army of domestiques? Are you sick and tired of your team’s flamboyant sprinter or whippet like climber getting all of the attention?

If you are, then read on, for do I have a deal for you.

Let’s face it, if you are one of the peloton’s many faceless workers, it is probably because you’re not much of a sprinter anyway or because you are carrying too much weight to be really effective in the hills.

While you perform an honourable job sheltering your prestigious leader from the wind and deferring to his every beck and call, wouldn’t it be nice, just once, to have the spotlight firmly focussed on your own helmeted face?

Of course it would. Even the most selfless of you wonder, deep down inside, just what it would be like to be the star, if only for a moment.

Well, now you can, but you have to hurry because this offer won’t last. All you have to do is follow the example of ole uncle Jens Voigt.

Yes, I know that uncle Jensy wasn’t exactly anonymous, but let’s face it, he was mainly famous for launching doomed breakaways and for swearing at his own legs. And yet, hidden behind this rather bizarre – some might say disturbing – behaviour, ticked a very sharp mind.

Jensy knew what it was all about.

Rather than ride off into the sunset never to be seen again, Mr Voigt went out with a dizzying bang and got his name into the record books, if only for a short time.

With little to no preparation and on a bike that hadn’t been purposely built for the challenge, Jensy attacked the world hour record, taking advantage of the recently relaxed equipment rules that had formerly shackled the event.

After riding 51.11 kilometres worth of circles around a Swiss velodrome, Jensy became the first record holder under the new unified rules.

But what really sparked the imagination was when Matthias Brandle broke Jensy’s record just 42 days later by riding 51.852 kilometres. Yes, that’s right, Matthias Brandle. Now don’t go saying Matthias who? This bloke has won stages of the Tour of Britain. Surely you’ve heard of him? No?

So, who’s next? Ji Cheng? Dmitriy Gruzdev? Roy Curvers?

Seriously though (and with absolutely no disrespect to the riders mentioned above), we have barely even reached lift off when it comes to this new ‘unified’ version of the hour record. Once the heavy hitters become interested – and they will – who knows what stratospheric heights the hour record will soar too?

Even riders such as Australia’s Jack Bobridge and USA’s Taylor Phinney could put the record out of reach of most contenders. Both have expressed an interest in having a crack at it and their excellent track and time trialling pedigree would see them well placed to do so.

In fact Phinney, who is recovering from a broken leg, thinks that it would be a ‘cool’ comeback idea. But he is under no illusions about where the record would eventually lie, all but conceding that he would be a temporary caretaker of the title if successful.

And here is where things really do get exciting.

Somewhere within the next year or so the really big guns are going to be wheeled out. We are talking about Bradley Wiggins and Fabian Cancellara in particular, but throw Tony Martin’s name into the mix as well, because if the other two start putting up spectacular benchmarks the pressure will be on the German to do the same.

For all his weird and wonderful ways it must not be forgotten that Wiggins is a freakish talent. He is also a most versatile one. His palmares is like a treasure trove. Whether on the track or on the road, he has won the biggest races.

Four Olympic gold medals, six world championship track gold medals, a world championship road gold medal and of course his historic Tour de France victory are among his most prestigious conquests.

The idea of adding the hour record to his collection of honours appeals to him immensely and with proper preparation he could establish a time that the others struggle to meet.

And this is where these subsequent attempts will differ from the recent Voigt and Brandle assaults. They will be well planned, with modifications that push the UCI rules to the nth degree.

While Voigt more or less just rocked up to the velodrome and jumped on a bike for an hour to see what he could do, attempts by Wiggins, Cancellara and Martin will involve specialist equipment, wind tunnel testing and a checklist of marginal gains that would make your head spin.

It will be as scientific as a bike ride can get and the athletes themselves will be finely tuned, knowing exactly what speeds and power outputs they need to sustain as they whiz around the banking.

The results will be spectacular.

This is why the faceless workers of the peloton must act now if they want their one shot at glory. Knocking Matthias Brandle’s name from the record books is within the realms of possibility. But trying to trump the big three of Wiggins, Cancellara and Martin will be impossible.

Get in now while you still can.