Mission accomplished! Ellen van Dijk broke the hour record by managing to complete 49.254 km in 60′. Yesterday evening at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland, the 35-year-old Dutchwoman completed 197 laps of the track on her stunning blue and white Trek Speed Concept designed especially for her hour.

Basque coach Josu Larazabal gave her directions at the trackside, her boyfriend Benjamin de Bruijn sounded the whistle every 10′, while Ellen kept turning her legs as fast as she could with her head down and fixed on the black line. At her side was a large and close-knit team, which also included Andrea Morelli and Matteo Azzolini, who for Mapei Sport support Trek-Segafredo for the periodic functional assessment tests and, on this occasion, contributed to the search for the best aerodynamics for the athlete and the bike.

«Together with Ellen, the team staff and the specialists enlisted by Trek for this project, we have been working over the last few months on Ellen’s bikefitting to find the best performing position for an exceptionally long hour-long effort. We are proud and genuinely excited to have contributed to making Ellen’s dream and that of the whole team that worked with her come true» comments Andrea Morelli, head of cycling at the Varese research centre, on his return from Switzerland.

In addition to the super sporting performance, Luca Guercilena’s team won doubly because with Ellen’s feat they supported the Greenhope charity association, which organises events to offer children with cancer and their families happy and carefree moments. Spectators present at the velodrome and those who followed Ellen from home via Trek’s youtube channel were able to make their donations to Greenhope, and Trek has announced that it will double the total amount of donations collected during Ellen’s hour. All the more reason to smile for the world time trial and European road champion, who has written another piece of cycling history, and for the Mapei Sport Research Centre.