Triumph: Whittingham, left

Canadian Sam Whittingham is indisputably the fastest man on earth under his own power.

In his human-powered vehicle Varna Diablo, he cycled an astonishing world record speed of 124kph / 77.03mph, on Thursday 4 October.

On Monday, Whittingham was clocked at 123.12kph / 76.62mph over 200m, breaking his own world record speed of 117.07kph/72.75mph, at the World Human Powered Speed Challenge, in Battle Mountain, Nevada, USA.

Whittingham needed another run within 4.8kph/3mph of Monday's time to confirm the new record, but he was thwarted by illegal wind speeds on the following two days.

 

	Whittingham: On the road

Thursday's record-breaking speed is guaranteed a place in the books because Monday's effort now qualifies as a backup run.

The records did not stop there for the 29-year-old.

It was confirmed today the winds were legal for Whittingham's run on Wednesday over the kilometer and mile distances, his average speeds of 120kph/74.65mph and 117kph/72.63mph respectively constituted new world records.

The collegiate Bearacuda team, from the University of California at Berkeley, USA, also set two new records on Wednesday.

Their tandem vehicle, ridden by Lance Doherty and Andy Jaques-Maynes, recorded average speeds of 106.4kph/66.13mph over one kilometer and 106.1kph/65.95mph over one mile.

 

	Queally: On the wild Blueyonder

The British-based Blueyonder team, with their Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Jason Queally, recorded a speed of 99.25kph/61.67mph over 200m. The speed was a vast improvement for the British team, who were making only their second run, but it still left them well short of Whittingham's record.

American Matt Weaver, who was expected to be tougher competition for Whittingham, failed to start but promised he and his Kyle Edge vehicle would still run in the event.

All teams only have two more runs to make on Friday or Saturday.

- Ash Potterton

All photos copyright John Cassidy Photography