The Highest Cyclist in the World

Yarn | A Story Podcast

[Sports documentary] In 2007 the legendary Scottish track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy set out to break the 1km time trial world record. The record and then only sub one minute 1km time was set by Hoy's longtime rival; Arnaud Tournant. Hoy was determined to go sub one minute himself and even more determined to snatch the record away from the French cyclist. Hoy embarked on a journey to the most remote cycling venue on the planet; The Alto Irpavi Velodrome, high in the Bolivian Andes. The fastest track on earth. Hoy's attempt pushed the boundaries of what his body could take. Throw in the very real risks of altitude sickness, a shoestring budget, an extremely tight deadline, unpredictable weather conditions, malfunctioning airplanes, some very curious locals and join us as we revisit the circus atmosphere that surrounded Chris Hoy when he became the highest cyclist in the world. To help us along with this story we talk to kilo track cyclist; Eamonn Byrne and to an expert in high altitude training; Nick Hart. Featuring original music score by Drembot. References: Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain’s Track Cycling Revolution - Richard Moore (Author). Chris Hoy: The Autobiography of Britain's most successful ever olympian - Sir Chris Hoy (Author). Arnaud Tournant: le phénomène - Pascal Sergent (Author). Eamonn Byrne is a coach at blacklinecoaching.com Nick Hart is a performance specialist at altitudecentre.com --- Full episode transcript available here: https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-26-the-highest-cyclist-in-the-world-78333e6b3fd1 --- Yarn is produced and edited by John Roche --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod