Cycling: Obree reclaims world one-hour record: Scot to 'retire' controversial bike and develop a different design

GRAEME OBREE raced into cycling's history books again last night when he recaptured the world one-hour record, which he lost to the Olympic champion, Chris Boardman, on the same track here last July.

Obree, 28, covered 52.713 kilometres in the hour, 450 metres more than Boardman rode in sweltering conditions to take the record six days after Obree had set it at Hamar, Norway.

Obree has always claimed that he was driven to make this attempt earlier than he would have liked because the world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, is reviewing the design and development of bikes in Rome on 6 May.

Whatever happens in Rome, Obree is hanging up his mini- handlebars that concern world officials, but aims instead to perfect his triathlon bars.

Last night Obree again proved to the world that it is the man that takes the record. At 25km he was 20 seconds quicker than the Merseysider. With a crowd of some 3000 stamping and cheering, blowing whistles at every announcement of his increasing speed, Obree smoothly took each lap of the 250-metre track, seldom wavering as he crouched in the downhill skier position for which he has become famous.

'I realised after 20km that I could not maintain the speed necessary to cover 53km because there was a danger of my blowing up,' Obree said.

Obree was riding the Mark II model of his original bike which shook cycling by taking the hour record and the world 4,000 metres pursuit championship in the space of four weeks.