Bradley Wiggins smashed the UCI Hour Record in emphatic style, beating the previous record of Alex Dowsett by over one and a half kilometres. It was the fifth time the record has been broken in the past eight months since the UCI changed the bike rules and reset the benchmark.
Wiggins started the record breaking ride aboard his Pinarello Bolide HR at a sold out Lee Valley Velodrome in London at a very fast pace, after 30 laps he was already 20 seconds ahead of Alex Dowsett’s record pace, at the 20 kilometre mark Wiggins was on track to go well over 54 kilometres. At the half way point Wiggins was well over a minute up on Alex Dowsett and had settled into a pace that would see him break the hour record convincingly. At the three quarter mark Wiggins was on track for an upper 54 kilometre ride but his pace dipped over the final ten kilometres to set a new UCI Hour Record of 54.526 kilometres.
After the ride Bradley Wiggins admitted the ride had been harder than anticipated.
“When you are out there you never think it’s going to come to an end,”
And, acknowledging the history of the hour record riders and Miguel Indurain who was in attendance tonight.
“I always compare myself to the greats. I’m just glad to be in the company of those guys. Just to get up there and do that takes a lot of courage. It’s tough,”
Twitter reaction
Former and current riders took to twitter to congratulate Wiggins on his ride. Chris Boardman congratulated Brad Wiggins phenomenal effort despite atmospheric conditions not being ideal.
Congratulations to Brad Wiggins, phenomenal effort. 1036mb air pressure. Right day, few tweaks and another km poss. Another go maybe….?
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) June 7, 2015
Jens Voigt considering a come back?
Congrats @OfficialWIGGINS! Do I have to come back from retirement? #Kidding
— Jens Voigt (@thejensie) June 7, 2015
Alex Dowsett congratulating Wiggins on breaking his record set last month in Manchester.
Congratulations to Bradley on beating my record, great for the UK cycling scene to have had 2 British record holders.
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 7, 2015
And, congratulations from Team Wiggins.
Congratulations Sir Bradley Wiggins! #MYHOUR #Wiggins pic.twitter.com/AYwCtMNhbR
— Wiggins (@OfficialWIGGINS) June 7, 2015
For now Wiggins has likely put the hour record out of reach for any one except maybe Tony Martin. Not only did Wiggins convincingly break the current record he also set the third fastest record breaking ride in history, from a time when rider position, bike and equipment rules were open. Only Tony Rominger and Chris Boardman have had faster outright record breaking rides with Boardman riding 56.375 kilometres at Manchester in 1996 on a monocoque bike and superman position. With better atmospheric conditions than today’s ride (1036mb air pressure) those benchmarks are close enough now for riders to attempt to break.
The updated UCI Hour Record breaking rides
Sir Bradley Wiggins, June 7, 2015, – London – 54.526 km
Alex Dowsett, May 2, 2015 – Manchester – 52.937 km
Rohan Dennis, February 8, 2015 – Grenchen – 52.491 km
Matthias Brändle, October 30,2014 – Aigle – 51.852km
Jens Voigt September 18, 2014 – Grenchen – 51.110 km
Outright Records outlawed due to the Lugano Charter
Chris Boardman – 6 September, 1996 – Manchester – 56.375km
Tony Rominger – 5 November, 1994 – Bordeaux – 55.291km
Tony Rominger – 22 October, 1994 – Bordeaux – 53.832km
Further reading: Some great analysis of CdA, watts and the incremental increase of the hour record by Alex Simmons, Wiggo’s Hour.
8 June 2015: The Bike Lane
