Rohan Dennis beats Boardman's Tour de France time trial speed record

Australian former Hour Record holder Rohan Dennis sets Tour de France fastest individual stage average speed of 55.446kmh

Rohan Dennis after stage three of the 2015 Critérium du Dauphiné (Photo: Graham Watson)

(Image credit: Watson)

Australian Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) has set a new record for the fastest Tour de France time trial in history, beating Chris Boardman's previous mark.

Dennis rode the 13.8-kilometre opening individual time trial stage in 14 minutes and 56 seconds, clocking an average speed of 55.446kmh - Boardman's previous record was 55.2kmh set during the 7.2km prologue of the 1994 Tour in Lille.

The pan-flat course around Utrecht in the Netherlands was blessed with little wind, and despite the corner-strewn course provided the ideal platform for quick times.

Tour Down Under winner Dennis was the only rider to go under the 15-minute mark on the course, and established time trial legends Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) failed to beat his time.

In February, Dennis set an Hour Record of 52.491km - slower than his time trial speed, though of course over a much greater distance. Dennis later lost the Hour Record to first Alex Dowsett and then Bradley Wiggins.

Orica-GreenEdge holds the record for the fastest average speed in a Tour stage: 57.7kmh set during the 2013 team time trial.

The opening stage of the 2015 Tour is the only individual test against the clock this year, with only a team time trial on stage nine to break up the road stages. The 2015 race concludes on July 26 in Paris.

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.