FOUR: THE RECORD

Away from the spotlight of the WorldTour or the Olympics, in spare bedrooms and on massive spreadsheets, a classic rivalry is brewing. On one side, one of the greatest athletes ever to sling his leg over a top tube, on the other a team of British underdogs with physical talent but more importantly, higher levels of stealth and cunning.

It’ll come to a head soon — in April the Huub-Wattbike team heads to the high-altitude Bolivian Cochabamba velodrome with the aim of going sub-four minutes for the 4km individual pursuit — but can Filippo Ganna, the triple world champion and holder of the current world record of 4-02.647 4-20 4-19 4-18 get there first when he rides the Track World Championships 4-17 4-16 4-15 in Berlin at the