Failure by such a narrow margin must be hard to process. Ultimately, Bussi was undone by pain in her diaphragm: a consequence of an extremely low riding position (Smart’s principle area of interest on the day we meet at the Mercedes F1 wind tunnel), as well as illness in the build-up to the attempt.

The pain, she says, came suddenly. For 48 minutes, she had ridden above the pace required to break the record, but lost a second a lap, every lap, for the last 10 minutes. Any physical torment on the track was eclipsed by the psychological blow of reaching the end of a metaphorical road.

“It would be nice, and more prestigious, to make an attempt in Italy and at sea level; to see an Italian attempt the Hour Record in an Italian velodrome.”

“It was disappointing. We are a team, so you disappoint not just yourself, but whoever else is in your team, so especially Rocco. But I realised after just one night, at the end, that I was disappointed, not just because of my result, but because it was the end of a dream.

“For me, it was like a dream from the start, so I enjoyed every day of training, every day of fighting for this world record. Suddenly you realise: ‘I’m not feeling bad because of the result, I’m feeling bad because it’s the end. Tomorrow, I cannot think about the Hour Record anymore.’”

And yet…Bussi is in good spirits when we meet at Mercedes F1. Endura’s invitation to work with Smart has reignited her passion. The dream is not dead. Surrounded by the leading thinkers in cycling aerodynamics, and armed with her own mathematical insights, she is in her element.

Despite competing in an age in which social media is almost as significant a part of an athlete’s life as a training programme, Bussi has retained a low profile. She concedes that this must change if she is to attract the commercial support required to fund a second attempt at the Hour Record, and is learning to share parts of her life with a digital audience.

“I don’t like to work a lot on social, because I’m so shy,” she admits. “It’s not easy to take a photograph of myself and explain what I’m doing. That’s the main problem. At the moment, it’s so important to advertise what I’m doing. It’s not because I want to say, ‘Look at me: I’m so beautiful, I’m so strong’. It’s just for the sponsors.

“It’s right, absolutely: if sponsors support you, they deserve publicity, but for me it’s another job. Whenever I take a selfie, or photos of what I’m doing, or make a short movie of working in the gym, people are interested. For me, it’s new. People are interested, so let’s do it.”

July 17th, 2019

Vamos Richie (English)

World Championship Bound Cyclocrosser

July 17^th, 2019