Ashton Lambie breaks four-minute pursuit barrier
Ashton Lambie breaks four-minute pursuit barrier
American track racer Ashton Lambie has ridden the fastest-ever four-kilometre pursuit time, clocking a time of 3:59.930 at the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico on Wednesday. His official time has not yet been confirmed by officials on site. If that unofficial time stands, he is the first to break the four-minute barrier over four kilometers.
“Honestly, it was brutal,” Lambie said of his effort on Wednesday. “I’ve been doing a lot more anaerobic capacity and strength work to hit that power! Which also means when your legs lock up, they lock up hard. I hate making a scene and having someone peel me off the bike, but I was wrecked.”
Lambie rode a 64×15 gear for the record-setting ride. Check out our full bike gallery and breakdown of the tech he used on the day.
Lambie announced the attempt earlier this month and pulled together a suite of aerodynamic experts and industry partners to help him find every split second. His previous best time of 4:03.640 was set at the Berlin track, not the high-altitude boards of Mexico city. The Aguascalientes track sits at 1,800 m, or 5,900 feet, and is known to be the fastest track in the world.
Lambie pointed to the four-minute running mile barrier broken by Roger Bannister in 1954 as inspiration for the effort.
Lambie popped up out of gravel racing in 2018 when he set a new world pursuit record, knocking off Jack Bobridge with a time of 4:09. That record has since tumbled as Lambie and Italian Filippo Ganna dropped it lower and lower. Prior to Lambie’s effort Wednesday, Ganna held the record with a time of 4:01.934.
This story is developing, check back for more.
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