New Everesting World record set under 7 hours by Sean Gardner
American cyclist Sean Gardner is the first to have broken the seven hour Everesting mark while also setting a new men’s World Record in a time of 6:59:38.
Gardner set the new record on a road called Tanners Ridge Road, Virginia with a total ride distance of 116km, over an average gradient of 15.5% with a maximum gradient of 22.6%. Yep…that’s steep:
Gardner who races for Philadelphia based club CS Velo and is USAC level 3 coach previously held a 07:25:59 on Reeds Gap, Virginia on 15/09/2020.
Gardner said on his Instagram post after his previous record attempt, “Everest challenge world record attempt was a brute! 29,029 ft on a bike is such a savage challenge. 50 laps of a 13% climb starts to get to you after a while. Started out well and was right on world record pace for the first 4 hours. At 5 hours in I hit a bit of a rough patch and started to bleed some time. I tried to recover towards the end but had lost a bit too much time. Still pending official results but I ended up missing the world record time by just a handful of minutes. Secured the American record though! Bummed to have it be so close after 7 hours of time trialing. Even more bummed to have it be so close that I feel like I need to give it another go ????. Lots of room for improvement and many marginal gains to be gained. Big thanks to the support crew and friends for the advice on making it happen.”
The previous men’s World Record was set by Irishman Ronan McLachlan on July 31, 2020 in a time of 7:04:41 beating Alberto Contador’s record by 20 minutes.
The record has been fiercely contested on the women’s side too, with Emma Pooley holding the current record of 8:53:36. Pooley’s attempt took in 10 laps of the punishingly steep Haggenegg climb (6.8km at 13%) near the town of Schwyz in central Switzerland.
Pooley is the first female rider to complete an Everesting in under nine hours. Her ride eclipsed the previous record of 9:08:31 set by fellow Englishwoman Hannah Rhodes on June 4 on Kirkstone Pass in England’s Lake District.
More to come…
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