The Italian beat the previous best by 1.244km, which was set by Team Ineos team-mate Daniel Bigham of Britain in August at the same venue.

"To arrive at this amazing goal is fantastic for me and for all the staff who have worked for a long time to get to this result," Ganna said.

The 26-year-old added that the last five minutes of his historic ride were particularly painful to get through as he attempted to hit 57km.

"I lost energy to try to go for 57, but nothing [in the legs]," Ganna said.

"It's okay!"

Gianna added: "Next time maybe I will try at another part of the season when I have fresher legs and we can go even higher… but now we will think about recovery."

Breaking the hour record is another standout achievement in Ganna's stellar cycling career.

Ganna has become a supreme individual time triallist, following his golden success at the Road World Championships in 2020 and 2021.

On the track, he is the reigning Olympic champion in the team pursuit and is a four-time world gold medallist in the individual pursuit, topping the podium in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The women's hour record is held by Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk, who covered 49.254km at the same velodrome in May.