IRISH RIDER DESTROYS ALBERTO CONTADOR’S EVERESTING RECORD BY 20 MINUTES

The Everesting record race continues at its blistering pace as an Irish rider has destroyed the time set by retired Grand Tour star Alberto Contador.

Ronan McLaughlin, a former An Post-Chain Reaction rider who represented Ireland at the 2012 World Championships, knocked more than 20 minutes off Contador’s already phenomenal time as the record now sits at just above seven hours.

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Everesting has been the biggest challenge trend during a 2020 that has been defined by the coronavirus pandemic, with new records coming almost weekly as riders climb the 8,848 metres equivalent height of Mount Everest on a single segment.

Contador set a new record earlier this month on the Silla del Rey climb in Spain, taking the record from current pro Lachlan Morton (EF Pro Cycling).

On Thursday (July 30) 33-year-old Mclaughlin took on the 117m-long, 14 per cent gradient Mamore Gap segment in County Donegal Northern Ireland,