Victor Campenaerts has said the UCI blocked plans he had put in place to break the hour record marker set by Bradley Wiggins in London.
Campenaerts is the current holder of the hour record as
he set a distance if 55.089km at altitude in Aguascalientes, Mexico, last April.
Bradley Wiggins had set a distance of 54.526km on the London
Olympic velodrome in 2015.
Campenaerts said he wanted to go to London and beat
Wiggins’ 2015 marker, and his own record, in the English capital to prove he
was capable of beating Wiggins at sea level.
Campenaerts said he had his plans in place, including an
agreement with management at the velodrome, and had factored in the need to
comply with social distancing regulations.
But he claimed the UCI, whose sanction is required for
the record, blocked his efforts because it believed the plans would be bad for
the image of cycling during the global Covid19 lock-down.
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Cycling is not banned in Britain during Covid19 as people
can exercise at least once per day, with no limit on how far or how long they
can exercise. However, social distancing measures are in place.
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The UCI has said no racing can take place until after
July 1st and no WorldTour events can take place until after August 1st.
However, Campenaerts did not believe his record attempt
plans amounted to a race. And he also said his record bid could have taken
place in full compliance with the measures in place to combat Covid19.
Wiggins had himself commented recently that the
suspension of racing appeared to him to present a perfect opportunity to try
and break the record, something Campenaerts agreed with.
“When it became clear at Paris-Nice that many races would
be postponed the idea of quarantining the London cycling track for three
weeks for a new attempt (became clear),” Campenaerts told Het Nieuwsblad.
“After my hour record some said I could only break
Bradley Wiggins’ record because it was at a high altitude. So I wanted to beat
his distance again at sea-level and on the same track.
“My team boss, Bjarne Riis, was completely behind it and
we already had contact with the owners of the track,” he explained.
“Everything would be done according to the rules of
social distancing but ten days after our application the UCI did not give the
green light. The reason? My attempt would not be good for the image of cycling.”
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