Tony Martin confirms shot at hour record, but not in 2016

If anybody can beat Bradley Wiggins’ 54.526-kilometer hour record, it’s Tony Martin. And it just might happen. Martin confirmed on Sunday that he wants to make an attempt at the record.

“For sure I will go for it, but probably not next year with the Olympics, another big target,” Martin said Sunday, after his Etixx-Quick-Step team finished second in the team time trial at the world championships in Richmond, Virginia. “In ‘17, ‘18 maybe, sometime then. I’ll try it for sure one time.”

Martin, a three-time world individual time trial champion and the undisputed king of the solo effort, isn’t the only one putting the brakes on the hour, an event that saw more attempts in 2015 than in the 15 years prior. Former record holders Alex Dowsett and Rohan Dennis both played down the possibility of making another attempt soon.

On Sunday, Dowsett, Dennis, and Martin sat in small plastic chairs on a stage in Richmond, Virginia, called forth for their work and results in the team time trial. Would Dennis attempt the hour again? His answer was succinct: “Nope.” And Dowsett? “Not any time soon.”

Dowsett, the record holder prior to Wiggins, needs to add just over a kilometer and a half to his 52.937 attempt to surpass his compatriot.

“If I do go for it again I want to be confident I can beat it,” Dowsett said. “The hour record took quite a big toll on my road season this year. I’d like to have a good season on the road.

“Wiggo’s distance is big, it would require a hell of a lot of work from the team and the sponsors. You don’t just rock up and ride around the track for an hour, it takes months of preparation and huge amount of effort. With it being 54.5km now, it’s a huge ask for anyone. I would like to have another crack in the future but road will be my focus this year.”