The reigning European time trial champion had been seeking to surpass the 54.526km covered by Britain’s Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Sir Bradley had achieved his mark in Lee Valley VeloPark in London back on June 7 in 2015.

Campenaerts had been hoping the Velodromo Bicentenario in Aguascalientes would boost his chance of success.

The Velodrome has already proved popular for hour record attempts owing to its high altitude which reduces air resistance.

The Lotto Soudal rider produced a well-paced ride to remain on target to break the existing record, as he managed 27.7km at the 30-minute mark.

Campenaerts' pace dropped slightly in the closing minutes of the ride, but he was able to achieve a distance of 55.089km to set the new distance.

"I am really happy," Campenaerts said.

"I focused on this for a long time."

Campenaerts added: "Iam super happy to break the record, but also break the magic 55km.

"It was really hard.

"I was a bit optimistic in the first 30 minutes, but afterwards it was really important to set a new pace, a bit slower.

"I think I did great, I slowed down a bit but I was always ahead.

"The team gave me 100 per cent confidence."

The reigning Belgian time trial champion had completed two months of altitude training in preparation for the event.

He was given permission to attempt the record by Lotto Soudal, with the effort seeing him miss the classics season on the road.

The hour record has attracted interest from riders since regulations were updated in 2014 to permit the use of the latest pursuit bikes.

Campenaerts was the 18th rider to attempt the hour record since the regulations were changed.