Alex Dowsett sets new hour record at Manchester Velodrome

Britain's Alex Dowsett has become the fourth person to break cycling's iconic hour record in the last eight months.

The 26-year-old Commonwealth time-trial champion covered 52.937km in 60 minutes at the Manchester Velodrome.

At one point he was nine seconds off the pace but judged the ride perfectly to beat Australian Rohan Dennis's mark of 52.491km, set in February.

He said: "The first 30 minutes were easy compared to what I expected but the last 10 minutes were a bit grippy."

Dowsett, who suffers from haemophilia, was originally due to take on the hour record in February but it was delayed after he broke his collarbone during training.

Olympic champion and Britain's first Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins will attempt to break Dowsett's record on 7 June in London.

And Dowsett has not ruled out another attempt later in the year, depending on how well Wiggins performs next month.

Dowsett has not ruled out another attempt later this year