AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico | In his final event as a professional cyclist, a Clear Lake native, smashed the American Hour record.
Tom Zirbel on Friday set a new standard of 53.037 kilometers, or 32.95 miles, topping the almost two-decades old record of 51.505 kilometers set by Norm Alvis in 1997.
The record refers to how far a cyclist can travel in an hour in a velodrome, an indoor arena with a steeply banked track.
In setting the American Hour record, Zirbel, 37, of Boulder, Colorado, also set the second-fastest hour record time in the world. Former Tour de France champion and Olympic gold medalist Bradley Wiggins set that record in June 2015, with 54.526 kilometers.
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