Hour record 25 September, 1958

At the fabled Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan, Brit Millie Robinson races round as three Italian riders cheer her on. She was on her way to a new women’s Hour record of 39.718km and 80cm.

Those Italian riders weren’t the only ones there, the stands contained a further 200 fans all screaming her name.

She had been planning the attempt for some time and saving her pennies to afford the trip. Training had been going well and in August at the Fallowfield velodrome in Manchester, Robinson had already set a new British record for the Hour of 38.562km, despite suffering a puncture during the ride.

She returned to Fallowfield in the week before the attempt to hone her form and experiment with equipment and gearing, Cycling reported at the time.

On the night she travelled – the flights from London were cheaper that way – Frenchman Roger Rivière was busy becoming the first person to break the 47km barrier for the Hour and Renée Vissac, the current women’s record holder, tried to increase her mark of 38.569km but got a puncture and failed.

On the day of the attempt, after a few days’ acclimatisation in Italy Robinson did a little half-hour ride on the track in the morning before having two poached eggs, toast and two cups of lemon tea.

The conditions in the outdoor velodrome were not ideal come the appointed hour of 5pm. Robinson went out hard to beat the 10km and 20km records held by Russian athletes and did so successfully. Robinson’s friend and track legend Reg Harris, who had helped in organising the attempt, told Cycling at the time that the back half of the Hour should have been easier as the conditions had improved, “but the fast start had its effect on Millie”.

But despite slowing, she kept on to set a new record, more than 1,000 yards further than Vissac’s ride.