From Rome to Mexico, via Oxford, from the PhD in mathematics to the world record of the hour over the 50 km wall. A long journey has led the Italian Vittoria Bussi to a historic goal for cycling, reached at the velodrome of Aguascaientes, with a lot of application and willpower, legs and brain to always turn a little stronger. The 36-year-old from Rome, record holder of the hour in 2018, decided to try again and do better than the Dutch Ellen Van Dijk (49.254km in 2022), launching the fundraiser 'Road2Record', which she presented as an "experimental, visionary and self-sustaining" project. The funds arrived and she kept her promise, becoming the first woman in the world to cover more than 50 kilometers, reaching 50,267. The first man to do so was Francesco Moser, 39 years ago and now the absolute record is always of an Italian, Filippo Ganna. "It happened. For real - he wrote on his facebook page immediately after the feat -. I keep rubbing my eyes in disbelief, to make sure that the number on the board really starts with five. The same board that has been hanging in the living room for 5 years '48,007', now no longer applies. Now it says '50.267', the figure of my second world record of the hour on the UCI track".
A number like infinite others for Bussi mathematics, but that means everything for the athlete Bussi, and even more so for a woman who after graduating in Italy specialized in Oxford and Imperial College in London and then moved to the Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste. In 2016 he decided to change his life and pursue success on a bicycle, always chasing numbers, in the form of time. "This record is mine. Indeed, ours - continued Bussi -. Thank you for making it possible with your support, thanks to my sponsors, to the amazing team who supported me, to the people who donated, who encouraged me, who never doubted that it could happen. The '#Road2record' project is now history."
It was not an easy success. Once in Mexico, Bussi was forced to postpone the attempt twice for climate-related reasons, to the almost two thousand meters of altitude where the Aguascalientes velodrome is located, on which she eventually completed just over 201 laps to conquer the record, just over a year after the one Ganna established in Grenchen (Switzerland), with 56.792km. "For the first time Italian cycling can boast two hour records at the same time - said the president of the Federciclismo, Cordiano Dagnoni - and this perfectly represents the vitality and health of our sports movement. I congratulate Vittoria and her staff. His personal and sporting history show that determination and will are the basis of every success. This result rewards an exemplary athlete, able to not stop in the face of difficulties".
Cycling: hour record for Bussi, first woman over 50 km/h
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