BREAKING THE KILO

Last month, Jeffrey Hoogland roared to a new one-kilometre time trial world record.  Tom Davidson speaks to the fastest man in track cycling and the team behind his latest feat

The most dominant kilo rider of his generation, Jeffrey Hoogland, needed to be persuaded to have a punt at the one-kilometre time trial world record. "He took a lot more convincing than I thought," his coach, Mehdi Kordi, tells CW. "I said, 'Do you fancy a trip to Mexico where it can be all about you, and the upshot is that you become the world record holder?

"He was like, 'I'm not sure. I want to be world champion first.' I was like, 'I'm pretty certain you're going to be world champion on your worst day."

Hoogland's form in the event had, after all, been unrivalled in recent years. He had held the rainbow bands since 2021, and this February became the first person to go under 58 seconds at sea level. Kordi knew the record was within grasp. Hoogland was doubtful.

"The irony of it all was that plans were already in place," the coach reveals. "The ball had got rolling in April, without him really knowing too much."

Six months later, in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes, Hoogland flipped the longest-standing record in track cycling on its head. It took him 55.433 seconds to snatch the bragging rights from Frenchman François Pervis, shaving 0.87 seconds off a benchmark that lasted for almost a decade.

"Every time I think about it I get this amazing feeling," Hoogland says, speaking to CW from a beach resort on the Caribbean Sea. "I didn't just want to set a new world record, I wanted to set it so it's pretty hard to ever beat again."

Suboptimal conditions 

The velodrome in Aguascalientes is a popular destination for world record attempts. Sitting at 1,887m, the altitude's low air density reduces aerodynamic drag, something that Italian Vittoria Bussi knows well, having set her Hour record there.