Riding laps on the velodrome for six hours: Swiss triathlete Jonathan Guisolan did it last weekend with only one goal, to break the 6 hours cycling world record. He succeeded, because with a ridden distance of a whopping 276.795 kilometers, he came further than anyone ever achieved. With that distance, Guisolan spent six hours averaging a stunning 46.13 kilometers per hour.
Guisolan is not the best-known triathlete so far and that is not surprising, as he was a semi-professional cyclist until 2022 before switching to triathlon. Only recently did he win his first appealing race, when he managed to win Challenge Sir Bani Yas in Abu Dhabi in April. There, he already gave everyone the upper hand during the bike and would report afterwards that he had biked relatively easy for his standards. He also said he surprised himself tremendously with that victory.
During his world record attempt last weekend, Guisolan deliberately kept no data except distance and time. “I am usually a data geek but the only data recorded on this ride was distance and time. For once the main focus wasn’t about holding a certain power, managing core temperature or heart rate. It was about maintaining my targeted pace, regardless of two main obstacles:
-Mental fatigue. Mostly caused by the concentration of keeping the ideal (shortest) trajectory, because every lap is counted as 250m, even if I’m covering more distance.
-Body pain. Mainly on my back and shoulders, caused by the compression at every turn (2214 of them)
I’m really proud of this achievement, the difficulties I had to fight against made it more rewarding.”
