The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is pleased to announce that Charlie Tanfield and his British compatriot William Bjergfelt will both make attempts to break the UCI Hour Record presented by Tissot on 14 August at the Konya Velodrome in Türkiye.
The greatest distance covered on the track in one hour stands at 56.792km. This record was set by Italy’s Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) on 8 October 2022 at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland.
Road and track cyclist Charlie Tanfield (28) has achieved outstanding results on the track, particularly in the team pursuit. Silver medallist in the event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he has also achieved excellent results at the UCI Track World Championships in recent years: UCI World Champion in Apeldoorn (the Netherlands) in 2018, silver medallist in Pruszków (Poland) in 2019, bronze in Roubaix (France) in 2021 and silver in Ballerup (Denmark) in 2024. He was also a member of the British squad that won the 2024 UEC European team pursuit title. The same year, he won two rounds of the UCI Track Nations Cup with the British team.
Charlie Tanfield said: “I’ve been keen to attempt the [UCI] Hour Record for my whole career, I remember joining the GB programme when Sir Bradley Wiggins held the record and thought ‘wow I’d like to give this a go at some point’. I identified this year after the Games as time when I’d have the freedom to give it a go and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.
"I’ve been preparing for this since I started training again after the Games, so there’s been months of training and learning to get to this point. On the day my goal is to execute the perfect ride for my ability, if I can do that and put it all together I’ll be happy”.
Men’s UCI Hour Record presented by Tissot:
08.10.2022: Filippo Ganna (ITA), Tissot Velodrome, Grenchen (Switzerland), 56.792km
19.08.2022: Dan Bigham (GBR), Tissot Velodrome, Grenchen (Switzerland), 55.548km
16.04.2019: Victor Campenaerts (BEL), Velodromo Bicentenario, Aguascalientes (Mexico), 55.089km
07.06.2015: Bradley Wiggins (GBR), Lee Valley VeloPark, London (Great Britain), 54.526km
02.05.2015: Alex Dowsett (GBR), National Cycling Centre, Manchester (Great Britain), 52.937km
08.02.2015: Rohan Dennis (AUS), Velodrome Suisse, Grenchen (Switzerland), 52.491km
30.10.2014: Matthias Brändle (AUT), UCI World Cycling Centre, Aigle (Switzerland), 51.852km
18.09.2014: Jens Voigt (GER), Velodrome Suisse, Grenchen (Switzerland), 51.110km.
The women’s UCI Hour Record presented by Tissot is held by Italy’s Vittoria Bussi, who covered a distance of 50.455km at the Velodromo Bicentenario in Aguascalientes, Mexico, on 10 May 2025.
On the same day as Tanfield’s effort, the Konya Velodrome will host another attempt to break the UCI Hour Record presented by Tissot when para cyclist William Bjergfelt goes for the C5 sport class record.
The greatest distance covered in an hour by a C5 para cyclist is currently 47.569km. The record was set by Italy’s Andrea Tarlao on 13 December 2014 at the Fassa Bortolo Velodrome in Montichiari, Italy.
William Bjergfelt (46) had his first success as a para cyclist in the individual time trial at the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Baie-Comeau, Canada. In 2021, he became the first para cyclist to compete in the Tour of Britain (an event on the UCI Europe Tour calendar in the 2.HC category). In 2023, Bjergfelt won the road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend (Belgium), before donning the UCI World Champion’s rainbow jersey in the specialty at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and Scotland (United Kingdom). An aerospace logistics manager, the British rider is a former elite mountain bike rider. Just a few months after sustaining a severe injury to his leg in an accident in 2015, he got back on his bike to embark on a glittering career as a para cyclist.
William Bjergfelt said: “The [UCI] Hour Record is iconic within cycling and something I have wanted to target for years to become truly engrained within cycling's history. I have been preparing since March for this opportunity and with the full support of the team at British Cycling and GKN Aerospace where I have worked for the past 25 years, this attempt is going to be ultra special for me.”
Para cycling sport classes for track events
C - Cycle: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary
B - Tandem: for a blind or visually impaired athlete with a sighted pilot.
Group C is divided into five different sport classes (1-5). The lower the number, the more severe the impairment.