Chris Boardman

Chris Boardman (born August 26 1968) is a former English racing cyclist who won an individual pursuit gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics and broke the world hour record three times. He is also known as a specialist in the individual time trial.

Related Topics:
August 26 - 1968 - English - Cyclist - Individual pursuit - 1992 Summer Olympics - Hour record - Individual time trial

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Chris Boardman's nickname is the Professor, for his meticulous attention to detail in preparation and training, and his technical know-how. He had an altitude tent built in his house to help him prepare for the Hour record attempt (see below), although in a recent interview claimed that all it did was just help him focus, and not give any physical advantage at all.

Related Topics:
Altitude tent - Hour record

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Even though he was part of the GAN team which was regarded as a conservative French team at the time, Chris Boardman focused more on interval training which does not necessarily include long and hard rides most of the time. He was a keen user of power measuring devices.

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For his winning ways in time trials and prologues of stage races, he was nicknamed Mr. Prologue. He has been criticized for being a time-trialist who can't climb for his lacklustre performance in the mountains of the Tour de France. He denied this in an interview with CycleSport, citing examples in the 1995 edition of the Dauphiné Libéré stage race where he performed very well in the mountain stages. He explained that his disappointing performances in Tour de France is due to his insufficient powers of recovery, which leaves him drained after a few days' worth of racing.

Related Topics:
Tour de France - Dauphiné Libéré

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Boardman was also famous for using a specially-designed carbon-fibre time trial bike designed by Mike Burrows and made by Lotus, the sports car manufacturer.

Related Topics:
Mike Burrows - Lotus

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