Alberto Contador breaks Everesting record with time of 7:27:20

Seven-time Grand Tour winner, Alberto Contador, has set a new Everesting record in a time of 7 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds.

The record, set on Tuesday, July 7 on a steep, gently arcing segment of the climb of Silla del Rey in Castile and León, Spain, beats the mark recently set by Lachlan Morton (EF Pro Racing) by some two and a half minutes.

The 37-year-old Contador, who retired at the end of the 2017 season as one of the most successful Grand Tour riders of all-time, has clearly stayed in shape in his retirement. The ‘Parte final – Silla del Rey’ segment on which he set the new record, averaging 13% over 0.96 km, required Contador to ride 78 laps to reach the altitude of Mount Everest. To be safe, Contador took it up to 8,928m – a vertical gain achieved in a staggeringly succinct 139.35km.

Morton’s attempt was particularly tumultuous, with the Australian rider apparently besting Swenson’s mark, only for that result to be overturned on the basis of faulty elevation data. Morton returned to definitively claim the record less than a week later, with a time of 7:29:57.

Morton’s mark stood for just over a fortnight, with Contador’s ride on Tuesday lowering the mark once again, and showing that the Everesting phenomenon is far from over.

Contador’s time has been verified by Hells 500, the body behind Everesting.

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