Rider Chat: Daniel Bigham (10 champion)

On the day the 10 mile Time Trial takes place in the Tour of Britain, we talk to Men’s 10 champion Dan Bigham about his victory and future plans

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Rider Chat: Daniel Bigham (10 champion)

Results of the CTT 10 Championships 2017 are here on VeloUK

I’m writing this as the course is put in place for the Tour of Britain 10 mile time trial in a few hours, the unofficial world 10 champs if you like with what Alex Dowsett has described as the next best Time Trial line up outside of the World Championships.

But last Sunday, much more low key but just as exciting, it was the CTT 10 Championships in Cumbria and on that day Hayley Simmonds and Dan Bigham were the winners. More from Hayley to come soon on VeloUK, but for Dan Bigham, like many in the Tour of Britain today, he had to deal with the pressure of favourite tag first and foremost.

“There were loads of favourite tags and polls on Facebook and people saying can you do eight in a season and break Daryl Webster’s record and all that so that put a lot of pressure on and it’s such a short event, there is no time for mistakes.”

“You have to be on the ball as you can win or lose by a handful of seconds. You have to pace it right, hit the roundabout perfectly, do everything right and not make a mistake”.

“We also had a lot of time to burn (start wasn’t until 4pm) as well so that also plays on your mind all day long. I’d rather have had an early start to get it out of the way but it was nice to look down as I crossed the line and saw the time and knew that was the best I could have done on the day so pleased.”

Asked to describe the course which I was told had not seen a 19 on it before the 10 champs, Dan says “I think originally it was on the elevens course which is quite quick but that changed it so it was more of a sporting course I guess you would say. The new tarmac though is nice and I could run the pressures up for once. I came down Friday, the weather was much better, and the course felt quick but then the weather changed, the rain came and the wind got up which is not ideal”.

One of the wives tales I’ve been told was wet tarmac was faster so I asked Dan and he replied “not really. There’s not a great deal in it. It’s best if it’s just about to rain and nice a humid but you don’t want to get cold and wet as that will slow you down.”

As I stood on the course all day, one thing that was evident was the strong winds blowing the trees about. How did Dan feel on the bike with a disc wheel in … “”There were a few tricky occasions but you get used to it. There were a few blustery sections but I was aware of them and I’m not exactly small so I can deal with it better than the juniors and women. It was pure cross winds down the course up and back …”

“Yesterday when we looked it, it was cross head out and cross tail back but the wind changed and today you floated up that first bank and I was averaging 30 plus to the top of the first bank and I was thinking geez… The plan was to keep a lid on it though and evenly pace the whole thing. I held back on some of the descents like the one to the roundabout so I had a bit more coming up the sharp bank from the turn where I hammered it up the bank and was then full gas with the taps fully open”.

Dan then revealed he had a 62 chain (round) ring on the front, a carbon peak ring which he admits sounds a bit mad. “It’s not so much about using it for the gearing but drive train efficiency and the actual material we used. We have played around with oval custom ones but I’m not completely set on them yet.”

Asked what the tyre choice was, he says “clincher on the front, tub on the back but ideally I would run clinchers all-round but I haven’t got the rear wheel set up yet but it is something we are working on with a manufacturers. Clinchers are faster…”

Finally, the season is almost over so what now for Dan? “I’ve got the closed circuit TT champs to do but we are full steam on the track now. I have the V718 next Saturday which is more an end of season blow out but we have Glasgow track GP end of September then in November a few World Cups, and UCI class 1s, the nationals in January so it is full bore on the track with individual and team pursuit.
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Throw a few kilos in there and just push on for the Commonwealth Games. We have set up a UCI track team; myself, Charlie , Tipper and Jonny, the same team we had at the nationals. We have got the sponsors in and are going full bore for the track”.

It will be Dan’s first time racing World Cups and he intends doing Poland, Manchester and Belarus.

Asked what the big picture is for him on the track, he says “I want to go to the Commonweatlths and I want to get on the GB track squad. That is what I want to do. It’s a big dream but then I am new to the track. It will be only my second track champs this January so if I can keep progressing, it shows I am worth selecting and putting time into”.

Good luck Dan and thanks for that chat …

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