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Olympian, world champion Evelyn Stevens to attempt to break the women’s UCI hour record this month

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Bridie O'Donell's ride, who set the current record on Jan. 22.

American rider Evelyn Stevens, seen here in 2010, will be the latest rider to attempt the women's UCI hour record. (Image:  Steve Ryan)
American rider Evelyn Stevens, seen here in 2010, will be the latest rider to attempt the women’s UCI hour record. (Image: Steve Ryan)

Evelyn Stevens, a five-time UCI road world champion and a 2012 Olympian, has announced that she will be the latest athlete to attempt to break the Women’s UCI hour record, a challenge she plans to undertake on Feb. 27 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Bridie O’Donell’s ride, who set a new record on Jan. 22.

There’s more to the challenge than simply the prestige of breaking the record, though, she said. “While attempting to break the UCI Hour Record is exciting for me and my career,” Stevens remarked, “I’m also proud to help shine a light on women’s cycling. This will be a special day, and it’s an honour to make my record attempt under the new dome at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center Velodrome.”

Since the UCI modernized and simplified the rules for the UCI hour record, allowing riders to use any bike that conforms to the rules and characteristics of bikes used during endurance track events, eight men and three women have undertaken the challenge. For the men, Bradley Wiggins set the current record of 54.536 kilometres. Stevens will be the fourth woman to undertake the attempt, after Sarah Storey of Great Britain, Molly Shaffer Van Houweling of the United States and Bridie O’Donnell, an Australian rider, each took a stab at the challenge.

Stevens will also be the second American to tackle the record, the first being Molly Shaffer Van Houweling, who made her attempt on Sept. 12, 2015 in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

When it comes to going a long way in a short period of time, Stevens, of course, is well-experienced—even in career terms. Raised in Acton, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children, Stevens competed at the London 2012 Olympics only three years after leaving her role as a New York-based investment analyst, a career she quit in order to take up cycling full-time. Riding for Boels-Dolmans throughout the 2015 season, she saw many highlights, taking first at the team time trial of the Women’s Tour of New Zealand and third overall. With goals of bringing Olympic gold home from the Rio, observers cite a competitive nature and robust athleticism for her speedy, meteoric rise in the cycling world.

That she’ll make her attempt on American soil, officials with USA Cycling say, is a meaningful thing.

“We are thrilled that Evie is attempting to break this very prestigious record here in the United States in front of an international audience,” said Derek Bouchard-Hall, the organization’s CEO. “Having one of our top American athletes chase history under our new Olympic Training Center Velodrome will be very special. We are grateful to the U.S. Olympic Committee for making this event possible with the recent dome and in helping us host this event later this month.”

Brian Cookson, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale, joined Bouchard-Hall in welcoming Stevens’s mission to break the lofty record. “The current women’s UCI hour record will be only five weeks old when Evelyn Stevens tries to establish a new mark. Bridie O’Donnell set a tough mark last month, and I am looking forward tremendously to following this next challenge. It is clear that the excitement surrounding the ionic UCI Hour Record will be just as high in 2016 as it was last year when we saw six attempts on the men’s record and two on the women’s record.”

Others interested in following Stevens’s ride to brak the UCI Hour Record can do so thanks to a free, global live stream. Details will be available at usacycling.org and uci.ch.