Fastest bicycle speed on a flat surface (outdoor), motor-paced

What to remember

On September 16, 2018, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Denise Mueller-Korenek averaged 296.009 km/h on a custom-built carbon KHS bicycle. She rode tucked behind a purpose-built vehicle that cut through the air for her, since a cyclist in open air could never push through that much drag.

The category, flat ground and motor-paced, goes back a long way: the record was first established in 1899. The mark she beat, 269 km/h (167 miles per hour), had been set in 1995 by the Dutchman Fred Rompelberg. Mueller-Korenek became the first woman to hold this outright record, open to riders of any gender.

It was not her first speed mark. Earlier she had set the women's bicycle land speed record at 237.7 km/h (147.7 mph). Most cycling records are achieved under special rules, such as motor pacing or favourable terrain.