Photo of the day - 30: Joss Lowden, new hour record holder

Photo: Matt Alexander/PA Wire

Congratulations to Drops-Le Col rider, Joss Lowden who broke the women's hour record at the Velodrome Suisse, in Grenchen, Switzerland. The distance she covered in one hour, 48.405km, beat Vittoria Bussi's hitherto record of 48.007km achieved in 2017.  

The 33-year old from Lewes, East Sussex had had her eye on the record for many months since she unofficially broke it last year while training at the Derby Velodrome, so she knew she would be capable of doing it again. However, doubts always set in during the preparation. Lowden, who is a road racer and one of the team captains at Drops-Le Col/supported by Tempur team, has been having a good season having won the Tour Feminin in Czechia and placing 5th at Brabantse Pijl. A week before her world record attempt, as part of her preparation she competed in the mixed relay time trial, the time trial and the road race at the World Road Cycling Championships in Flanders, Belgium. 

What is impressive about this record is that it beat other records that were achieved at high altitude. Apart from Bridie O'Donnell who cycled at 46.882/hour in 2016 in Adelaide, all the other hour records were broken at around 2,000 metres altitude - either in Mexico or in Colorado, USA. Joss Lowden's record was not completely at sea level as the Velodrome Suisse is at 450m altitude, but it is far from high altitude. This record also beat the ultimate speed of 48.149/hour, set by Jeannie Longo in 1996 but was not recognised by the cycling governing body (Union Cycliste Internationale) due to her having adopted the banned "Superman" position.

Given that Joss was constantly ahead of schedule throughout her ride, it seems that she would probably be strong enough to break her own record in the future. So who knows, we may see her again in the Velodrome Suisse.

Daily photo - 27: Published in Telegraph Women's Sport

I have been contributing articles to publications for a few years now, and so I have become used to seeing my articles in magazines or on-line. I must say I did get quite excited about this latest article of mine being published in The Telegraph. It is something that I aspire to - being published in a national daily newspaper, and even in a broadsheet.

Earlier this year Anna Kessel, previously of the Guardian, joined The Telegraph to head up a new section specifically aimed at raising the profile of women's sport - Telegraph Women's Sport.

This new publication aims to champion women's sport at elite and grass roots level, while addressing under-representation, and campaigning for specific issues that impact on the women's game. The editors are keen to adopt a bold style of journalism that can really grab the attention of the reader.

I think this is a great idea - especially as women's sports publications are few and far between. So it is great to have an article of mine published.

The feature was all about the rainbow jersey worn by the world cycle racing champion, and why it is so hotly contested by women, as well as profiling the women behind Santini, the manufacturers of this jersey and a range of cycle wear.

For the article I interviewed past World Road Racing Champions Jeannie Longo, Mandy Jones, and Tatiana Guderzo and it was very interesting to hear their stories.

Seeing the final product on-line, and in the print version of the newspaper gave me a buzz. This sort of thing definitely spurs me to look for more ideas. I hope to be able to produce more engaging stories.


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