# Boardman's 4000m record broken



## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

It's taken 15 years for the 4000m record set by Chris Boardman in the "superman" position to be broken.
It was an amazing ride by Jack Bobridge to break it. He is one wicked fast rider.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bobridge-breaks-boardmans-record


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## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

Wow. The current top tier of pursuiters is amazing; will be interesting to see how they can push each other, and how these guys do on the road.


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## The Moontrane (Nov 28, 2005)

dougydee said:


> It's taken 15 years for the 4000m record set by Chris Boardman in the "superman" position to be broken.
> It was an amazing ride by Jack Bobridge to break it. He is one wicked fast rider.
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bobridge-breaks-boardmans-record


That it took 15 years shows what a good rider Boardman was.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

The Moontrane said:


> That it took 15 years shows what a good rider Boardman was.


Well, the superman position is worth something too.


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## vismitananda (Jan 16, 2011)

Nice indeed. Let's see how good this lad on the road.

Why did the UCI banned the "superman" position? It was nice though, and is more aerodynamic. Boardman must be proud of it.


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

vismitananda said:


> Nice indeed. Let's see how good this lad on the road.
> 
> Why did the UCI banned the "superman" position? It was nice though, and is more aerodynamic. Boardman must be proud of it.


Graeme Obree is probably quite proud of the Superman.


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

vismitananda said:


> Nice indeed. Let's see how good this lad on the road.
> 
> Why did the UCI banned the "superman" position? It was nice though, and is more aerodynamic. Boardman must be proud of it.


I didn't know much about Graeme Obree before watching the movie about him, but the Superman position was banned when Hein Verbruggen was at the helm of the UCI. In the movie at least it seems that the UCI was making up rules as they went along. It made our buddy Hein look like a real scum bag.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

If you believe what the movie depicted it was because the superman position was ugly and didn't reflect the beauty of the sport. 


Very impressive record.. Def something to be super proud of. That is crazy crazy fast.


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## tranzformer (Dec 27, 2007)

What bike did he use to break the record?


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

MG537 said:


> It made our buddy Hein look like a real scum bag.


Truth in art


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

tranzformer said:


> What bike did he use to break the record?


Most probably a BT track frame.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

MG537 said:


> It made our buddy Hein look like a real scum bag.


Meh, he more or less did that on his own without any help.


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## tranzformer (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks Waldo. I couldn't tell from the limited pictures I have seen. Appreciate it.


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## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

In the same meet Rohan Dennis rode a 4.13 third fastest time ever.


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

slowdave said:


> In the same meet Rohan Dennis rode a 4.13 third fastest time ever.


Its a shame they have taken some of the track events out of the Olympics. There are some really good riders at the moment who could push each other to even quicker times.


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## cydswipe (Mar 7, 2002)

I really like how Boardman has handled the breaking of the record. He really seems to be a class act.


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## nathanbal (Feb 23, 2009)

cydswipe said:


> I really like how Boardman has handled the breaking of the record. He really seems to be a class act.


have you read ALL his comments? i'll try and find it but after saying "great ride" he then went on to say that the British would have beaten it well before but, "we dont concentrate on that event anymore since its been dropped from the olympics"... he's got sour grapes for sure!


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## nathanbal (Feb 23, 2009)

"But if it was an Olympic discipline, we would have (two-time Olympic champion in the event) Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and some other young lads focusing on this. As soon as it was taken out of the Olympics, our national team - very much Olympic-focused - absolutely stopped thinking about it completely. That competition ended. The Australians still hold it in high esteem, which is nice to see, and they've stuck with it. But the term that's been used for the British in the past is 'passionately ruthless' - our performance program is funded to chase Olympic gold medals, period. If this doesn't count then why am I expending energy on it? It's a nice-to-have but ultimately it isn't the job."

http://www.news.com.au/national/brit-talks-down-aussie-record-ride/story-fn7mjqus-1225999130663


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

nathanbal said:


> "But if it was an Olympic discipline, we would have (two-time Olympic champion in the event) Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and some other young lads focusing on this. As soon as it was taken out of the Olympics, our national team - very much Olympic-focused - absolutely stopped thinking about it completely. That competition ended. The Australians still hold it in high esteem, which is nice to see, and they've stuck with it. But the term that's been used for the British in the past is 'passionately ruthless' - our performance program is funded to chase Olympic gold medals, period. If this doesn't count then why am I expending energy on it? It's a nice-to-have but ultimately it isn't the job."
> 
> http://www.news.com.au/national/brit-talks-down-aussie-record-ride/story-fn7mjqus-1225999130663


Thats all well and good, but wouldn't having strong individual 4000m riders lead to having a strong teams pursuit team?


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## nathanbal (Feb 23, 2009)

thats what i would have thought... and why i think the comments around Boardman being a "class act" are a little over the top.


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

nathanbal said:


> have you read ALL his comments? i'll try and find it but after saying "great ride" he then went on to say that the British would have beaten it well before but, "we dont concentrate on that event anymore since its been dropped from the olympics"... he's got sour grapes for sure!


I don't call that sour grapes at all. That is called confidence in the GB squad. Of any nation that could have done it right now I would have guessed either Australia or Great Britain. Both have an amazing track endurance squad.


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## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

Wiggins? Give me a break.


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## BAi9302010 (Mar 7, 2002)

55x11 said:


> Well, the superman position is worth something too.












Andrea Colinelli, the rider he beat, was riding in the superman position on a "superbike" as well. Boardman won by almost 5 seconds and almost lapped Colinelli. He was waaaay ahead of his time, probably the best time trialist ever. Consider this.....

Time Trialing is extremely popular amongst the cycling community in Great Britain. One of the standard tt lengths is 40km. Boardman set a national record of 45:57 in 1993 while training for his first hour record attempt. He was riding a steel-framed, non-aero, fixed-gear, in the rain, with a normal helmet. This record has yet to be broken as of 2011.










His TdF fastest stage record from 1994 in Lille has yet to be broken in 16 years, despite numerous short prologues and fast tt stages. He caught a doped up Luc Leblanc for a minute in a 7km tt, after Leblanc had previously stated that if Boardman (still an amateur at the time) could break the Hour record, any pro could.

etc, etc. Boardman set all kinds of records that took years to break and many of them stand today, over a decade after he retired. Despite the sleek look of many of his rides, modern tt bikes have surpassed the aerodynamics of most of them due to more accurate testing, rider positioning, better skinsuits, etc.


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

dougydee said:


> Thats all well and good, but wouldn't having strong individual 4000m riders lead to having a strong teams pursuit team?


Why would someone come to that conclusion?


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

BAi9302010 said:


> Andrea Colinelli, the rider he beat, was riding in the superman position on a "superbike" as well. Boardman won by almost 5 seconds and almost lapped Colinelli. He was waaaay ahead of his time, probably the best time trialist ever. Consider this.....
> 
> Time Trialing is extremely popular amongst the cycling community in Great Britain. One of the standard tt lengths is 40km. Boardman set a national record of 45:57 in 1993 while training for his first hour record attempt. He was riding a steel-framed, non-aero, fixed-gear, in the rain, with a normal helmet. This record has yet to be broken as of 2011.
> 
> ...


So to sum things up there was a very good reason as to why the record took 15 years to break. Boardman was a real badass.


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## vismitananda (Jan 16, 2011)

waldo425 said:


> Graeme Obree is probably quite proud of the Superman.


Ow. Sorry about that. I forgot about the "Flying Scotsman" who originally done the Super Man position.


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

moabbiker said:


> Wiggins? Give me a break.


Lets not forget the amazing list of Palmares. He was an amazing track rider. I cant find his PB but at the 2008 Olympics he road a 4:15. He was pretty well known for doing only what was needed to get the ride done and not waste more energy than needed. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Wiggins


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

BAi9302010 said:


> Time Trialing is extremely popular amongst the cycling community in Great Britain. One of the standard tt lengths is 40km. Boardman set a national record of 45:57 in 1993 while training for his first hour record attempt. He was riding a steel-framed, non-aero, fixed-gear, in the rain, with a normal helmet. This record has yet to be broken as of 2011.
> 
> /QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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