The holder of the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot talks about her love for a challenge, her eternal dissatisfaction and search for perfection.
“Every day I get things wrong. Every day, I fail somewhere.”
It’s not exactly what you’d expect to hear from the two-time holder of the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot and, to boot, the first woman to cycle more than 50km in one hour. But Vittoria Bussi concedes: “I have very high standards. If I reach the standards I want every day, it’s too easy. I guess I’m always dissatisfied. But I always want to improve, do better, achieve more.”
So now the Italian has beaten the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot for the second time, she’s ready to take on a new cycling challenge. She’s reluctant to announce what it is, but has given herself several months to train and – she’s a mathematician after all – work on the technical side. She is currently based in Aigle, Switzerland, four days a week, combining sessions on the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) velodrome with her half-time job as a data scientist.
Rewind…
It is just over three months since Bussi rode 50.267 kilometres on the Velodromo Bicentenario in Aguascalientes, Mexico, taking the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot by over a kilometre from Dutchwoman Ellen van Dijk. Bussi had first broken the prestigious record in 2018, and her mark of 48.007km remained for three years until Great Britain’s Joscelin Lowden went further.
The record nobody can beat
“Records are set to be broken, and I was waiting for someone to break mine,” says Bussi of losing her original record in 2021. “I didn’t want to beat myself, but I knew that once someone went further than me, I would focus again. Of course, you don’t feel great when someone beats yours, but it’s also a chance to improve.
“I was already thinking about the 50 before Ellen’s record. For me it was an opportunity to do something that will last forever. I will always be the first woman to break the 50km mark.”
Can the current record-holder go even further than 50.267km?
“Yes, I think I can,” replies Bussi without hesitation. And she is not one to talk off the top of her head. With a doctorate in mathematics, nothing is left to chance.
“You can keep going forever because it’s science. Science and technology are advancing very quickly so yes, I can improve. But you have to move on in life. You can focus on something forever and keep improving but there are so many other things in life worth trying. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I know how to do the Hour now.”
That’s not to say it’s been an easy ride for the academic, a former middle-distance track runner, who took up cycling at the age of 27. She chose an atypical path to get to the top and mounted her record attempts thanks to sponsors and crowd funding.
“I made the decision not to part of a professional cycling team. Big teams have sponsors and you have to use this bike, this helmet, do this, do that. I wanted to choose my sponsor and have the freedom to manage my own project. But freedom costs a lot in terms of energy!”
Short-lived decision to stop cycling
That is why her first instinct after setting the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot last October was to stop.
“I said to myself ‘OK, maybe it’s time to change your life’. I’ve had 10 years as a professional cyclist, two world records, some podiums in international races and one victory (the opening time trial of the Czech stage race Tour de Feminin – O cenu Ceskehu Svycarska, in 2021). I can be proud of my professional career.”
Bussi’s plan was to organise her wedding with long-standing partner Rocco (“my rock”) and start a family, until her sponsors and friends encouraged her to make the most of her good shape to continue another year. Her bike sponsor Hope and all her technical sponsors said she could keep her bike and continue riding.
“OK, so I have the bike but it’s not a bike you can pedal around the city on. It’s a really aggressive track bike,” laughs Bussi. “So I had a think. I love the track. And I like to challenge myself, move out of my comfort zone. I also like to be alone, so bunch races don’t interest me. I need some stimulus.”
It didn’t take long for her to come up with a new cycling goal.
A question of methodology
“I’m always looking for challenges. I think it’s the academic career that gives you that kind of attitude. You want to overcome the limits, search for something new. It’s about methodology. I developed a methodology for the Hour and I want confirmation that it can work everywhere. I want to see how far it can go. How can the method be improved?”
She appreciates being able to work towards her new goal at the UCI World Cycling Centre where she enjoys seeing the track constantly in use: by the centre’s own resident athletes, members of the public with season subscriptions, and for track cycling initiations. “The centre gives so many opportunities to many athletes and people in general,” she says.
As well as her booked sessions on the track, Vittoria Bussi makes use of the UCI WCC’s fully-equipped gym, and on other occasions can be found sitting in front of her bike locker lost in the geometry of her machine.
In the process of changing her position on the bike, she is capable of spending the entire day studying her saddle height, inclination, stack and reach. Which sometimes means doing her four hours of academic work after dinner until nearly midnight.
“Part time doesn’t really work for me,” admits the perfectionist. “I always want to do everything 100% so that is another challenge for me this year. I have chosen the two loves of my life – maths and the bike – and will see if I can succeed in both.”
One thing is sure, Vittoria Bussi is leaving no stone unturned in her effort to achieve in all domains of her life.
“I am totally out of my comfort zone, but to be honest, I am really enjoying it!”