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news
Video: Lorry-drafting Brazilian cyclist hits 168 kilometres an hour in latest film
Remember Evandro Portela? He’s the Brazilian cyclist who attached a GoPro camera to a truck and filmed himself drafting it at 124 kilometres an hour.
> Video: Brazilian cyclist drafts lorry... at 124 kilometres an hour
Footage of his exploits went viral after we featured it here on road.cc, and now he’s gone even faster, hitting 168 kilometres in his latest video on Facebook as he prepares for a Guinness World Record attempt later this year.
The speed – which equates to 104 miles an hour – was achieved behind a Subaru car rigged up with a fairing to eliminate wind resistance.
With sponsors on board and a massive, 100-tooth chainring on his bike his aim is to have a crack at the Guinness World Record for the fastest motor-paced bike ride in an urban area, for which there is currently no official mark.
His attempt, which has been approved by Guinness and has the permission of police, will take place at some point in the second half of the year on the BR-277 highway, between Campo Largo and Curitiba.
While cyclists who have set motor-paced records have typically used bikes specifically designed for the attempt, the former professional cyclist, now aged 40, will be riding a standard Trek Madone 4.3 equipped with disc brakes and Continental tyres, and of course that huge chainring which gives him a maximum gear ratio of 100x10 and enables his bike to cover 21 metres with each turn of the pedals.
> Brazilian cyclist who drafted lorry at 124 kph now aiming for 200 kph
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Aluminium can 11 min 44 sec ago
I remembered right after posting then figured no one would notice so didn't fix my post. They're used to it...
- hawkinspeter 6 hours 27 min ago
"Acting like", not necessarily "built like". However, I don't think leaf springs work under tension and instead require compression which isn't how...
- hawkinspeter 6 hours 32 min ago
Interesting theory - how many points does it take for them to drive carefully?
- eburtthebike 6 hours 55 min ago
At the end of the consultation in May 2025, a decision will be taken.........
- Grahamd 7 hours 19 min ago
The absurdity of it deepens when you realise that those points were acquired by the age of 26.
- David9694 8 hours 53 min ago
BAM!
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Oxfordshire councils are quite capable of letting you down too!...
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I guess Morrissey could claim it.
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I do see a lot of delivery riders (on illegal e-motorbikes) with their faces covered...
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8 comments
Skilled also to control the bike while passing through the slipstream of slower moving HGVs, which might be travelling at 50, 60 even 70 + mph. The wash from these would be terrifying. I noticed the way in which the bike is drifting sidewards and almost appears to 'float' up and down at times over bumps.
No just cojones, he's incredibly skilled. Something that curiously always gets neglected by comments on stuff like this. Even if you neglect his reaction times and visual cognition, the ability to control your power output in your legs and core like he can is godlike.
Try jumping on a direct drive trainer with power meter and try to hold a steady power within 5 watts. Yep. No chance. Try 10. No chance. Try 50. Maybe. Probably not.
He makes it looks like he's pissing around too. Just incredible.
Yep, good point actually. He's extremely skilled and must have incredibly high levels of perception. I'm not slow but there's no way I could've achieved anything like this even when I was at my physical peak.
I still think he's nuts, though the world would be a more boring place if not for guys like this.
Wow - that's extreme. If the cops give him the all-clear then I suppose it's ok. I still think he's nuts, though you can't deny he's got cojones (or whatever the equivalent is in Portuguese).
Controlled environment maybe, but open roads - Darwinism in action
And to think I consider myself a bit of a knob when I 'catch a bus'.
I'd actually forgotten how nauseous watching that truck drafting footage makes me feel.
Wouldn't you be able to achieve the high gearing required with an internal geared cassette hub like the sturmey archer RF3 thus avoiding the ridiculously large chainring.
Why does he get pissy with that truck?