News: Dan Bigham to race the Hour

Dan Bigham is to make an attempt on the British Hour Record held by Bradley Wiggins at the Tissot Velodrome, Grenchen, Switzerland on October the 1st

News: Dan Bigham to race the Hour

After an intense preparation period over the past 18 months, with the full support of WattShop and HUUB Design, Dan Bigham now feels ready to take the next step in his hour record journey and attempt to break the British Hour Record of 54.526km, held by Sir Bradley Wiggins. With four full test runs since February 2020, a package of new componentry upgrades and a peak of form following the Tour of Britain and UCI Road World Championships, now is the right time.

Photos: Lucie Griffiths

Having proudly supported Dan in his ambition to break the World Hour Record of Victor Campenaerts, this is the next stepping stone of the project. Following a reverse-engineering approach, we’ve worked to understand the demands of the hour, where the areas for improvement lie and how we can work to optimise these to offer Dan the best chance of breaking the record. This has resulted in doing many things differently to previous hour record attempts, from gearing selection and pacing through to atmospheric conditions and nutrition strategies.

Dan will attempt the British record, which is also the sea-level world record, this Friday at 16:00 CEST onthe Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland. Although not renowned for its outright speed, the velodrome has amazingly stable atmospherics that are well suited to a record attempt. Following a hopefully successful attempt, Dan will then begin preparation for an attempt on the World Hour Record in 2022.

Photos: Lucie Griffiths

Dan says “The hour is an event I’ve always been attracted to. From my original #RaptorHour on Palmer Park in 2014, through to attending Wiggin’s historical ride in 2015 and the numerous practice runs I’ve had since, the hour continues to make me more passionate about finding out where my limits lie. This ongoing project has had a huge amount of support from many people and companies, for which I’m eternally grateful for all the time and effort they put in to help me and my ambitions. It’s unearthed so many new avenues for investigation and optimisation that have been thoroughly enjoyable in pursuing. Hopefully, I can put in the ride I know I’m capable of on Friday.”

Equipment list
Frame: Argon 18 Electron Pro
Cockpit: WattShop Pentaxia Olympic basebar & WattShop Anemoi extensions
Crankset: WattShop Cratus crankset (170mm) and WattShop x New Motion Labs 64T chainring
Chain: Izumi Kai with WattShop Cratus treatment
Wheels: FFWD Disc-T SL with Vittoria Pista Speed 2.0 23c
Helmet: Kask Mistral
Pedals: Speedplay Aero
Skinsuit: Vorteq DB IND03 TT HR 01 01
Overshoes: HUUB Vorteq

Photos: Lucie Griffiths

Live coverage and commentary with Scott Nielson, Ewan Wilson & Jonny Wale will be available on TheCycling Dane YouTube channel from 15:30CEST (14:30BST) https://youtu.be/yr66nPikPn4

All For One – Dan Bigham British Hour Record Attempt Teaser – https://youtu.be/fOkTvRuYyms