Lionel Sanders sets Canadian one hour record

Riding a massive gear and maintaining a cadence considerably lower than cyclists consider necessary for record attempts, Canadian triathlete Lionel Sanders shattered the one-hour record at the Milton velodrome in October.

Before the race Sanders said he wanted to try and beat the standard Jens Voigt set when the rules for one-hour record attempts were revised in 2014 – Voigt rode 51.110 km in Switzerland.

Sanders did that and more. He broke Ed Veal’s Canadian record of 48.587 km by the time he hit the 57 minute mark, and went on to ride 51.304 km in 60 minutes. Veal set the previous record in 2017, also at the Milton velodrome.

For the record-setting performance Sanders rode a modified Canyon Speedmax frame with Hed disc wheels. He used a 61-tooth front chain ring with a 13-tooth rear cog, and appeared to average a cadence of just under 90.

“That was a very painful effort,” Sanders said after the event. “It was great. I live for this stuff. This feels like my first race of the season. It feels good to push myself to the limit.” “The first 30 minutes were not bad,” Sanders continued. “The pain was significant over the second half. I had hoped to push more over the last 10 minutes, but there was nothing more. I think that means I had my pacing right.”

Sanders also hinted that he both anticipates other athletes looking to take the record in the near future, and that he’d also like to make another attempt some time in the future.

“Records are meant to be broken,” he said. “I hope someone does, and I hope that someone does that soon. I would love to try that at altitude, but that’s a project for another off-season.”