New 50-mile British champion and record holder John Archibald says he was originally targeting a fast time later in the season – before conditions came up trumps for a superfast 1:30:08 for the half-century in Monmouthshire, Wales.
Ridden on the R50/1B course on the A40 road, and still provisional at the time of writing, Archibald's time was a 23-second beating of Marcin Bialoblocki's 2018 record. It was the second of numerous records set by the Pole last decade to fall – both at Archibald's hands – the other being the 100-mile, broken last year with a stunning 3:12:58.
