The long, illustrious tradition of British cyclists and riding in circles as fast as possible for 60 minutes continued on Friday afternoon at Newport Velodrome, where Jessica Bisley set a new women’s UCI Derny Hour record of 60.160km – almost eight kilometres further than the previous benchmark.
Disley’s distance was also two kilometres greater than that achieved by Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Bäckstedt when he attempted, and failed, to set the men’s derny-paced world record in the same velodrome in 2005, just over a year after his triumph at the Hell of the North.
“It was pretty wild,” the 35-year-old told road.cc shortly after record-breaking attempt. “It was massively overstimulating behind the derny, there’s loads of noise, the fumes, and wind, because it’s going so fast. It was just really cool, and I’m really happy I did that.”
Unlike the traditional Hour Record, currently held by Italians Filippo Ganna and Vittoria Bussi, the derny-paced record sees riders led for the entire 60 minutes by, naturally, a derny pilot, using the small motorised bikes commonly seen in keirin and six-day racing on the track.
And while non-motor paced Hour Record bids can once again be carried out, since the UCI changed the rules in 2014, on aero-focused bikes with time trial bars, aerobars and front disc wheels are not permitted in the derny-paced version.
Instead, riders are required to use a standard endurance setup with drop handlebars, with Disley riding a 56cm Cervélo frame, AeroCoach Aeox Estoc clincher wheels, and a crank length of 165mm. She also opted for a 55×12 gear.
Disley, a five-time Gran Fondo time trial world champion, winning the event in 2017, and every year between 2021 and 2024, was paced by experienced derny pilot Pip Taylor, whose clothing and equipment choices were also governed by the UCI’s rules.
During her attempt in the Geraint Thomas national velodrome in Newport, overseen by British Cycling commissaires, Disley completed the hour in 60.160km, covering 240 laps of the track and easily breaking the 52.406km benchmark set in 2016 by Adelia Neethling.
Speaking to road.cc after celebrating with her family, Disley said: “60km was the best-case scenario. I thought ‘go after 60km and see what happens’, because I thought I would regret it if I didn’t try for it at least.
“And I was helped by all noise and all the people here watching, so when I hit 240 laps, I was like, yes, I’ve done it.”
So, how do you prepare for sitting behind a derny for an hour at 60kph? Lots of sitting still and push-ups, apparently.
“We did a good few Derny sessions here, building up the distance at 60km,” she said when asked about her preparations for her attempt.
“I also did a lot of weight stuff – the most painful being the arms – and I did quite a lot of press-ups, tricep dips, all that jazz.
“And I did a lot of rides, one hour, outside, where I tried not to shuffle on the saddle, just to get used to sitting on the saddle for an hour straight.”
As noted above, Disley is not the first person to have attempted to break the UCI Derny Record at Newport Velodrome, following Magnus Bäckstedt’s ill-fated bid to surpass Matthe Pronk’s 66.114km men’s record in October 2005.
The Tour de France stage winner, then riding for Liquigas, seemingly suffered as a result of the heat in the Welsh velodrome and struggled to get on top of his huge 60×12 gear, but still battled on to the finish, covering a distance of 58.25km.
Which also means that Disley now holds the record for the greatest distance covered in an hour in Newport velodrome, along with her newly-minted women’s Derny Hour record. Not too shabby, at all.
The current men’s derny-paced record currently stands at a whopping 66.639km, set by Dutchman Maas van Beek, who holds the three fastest times for the event, all set between 2009 and 2012, when the cancer survivor was in his 50s.