Sir Bradley Wiggins to attempt hour record at London’s Olympic Velodrome
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/15/bradley-wiggins-hour-record-london-olympic-velodrome Version 0 of 1. Sir Bradley Wiggins has announced his plan to attempt the hour record on 7 June at London’s Olympic Velodrome. The four-times Olympic champion and 2012 Tour de France winner, who is 35 on 28 April, will attempt to add to his accomplishments by riding the furthest distance in 60 minutes at the Lee Valley VeloPark. “The hour record is a holy grail for cyclists,” Wiggins said. “It’s been fought over tooth and nail by some of the greatest names in our sport for over a hundred years and it’s time for me to have a crack at it. “I like the idea of challenging myself and want to motivate people to do the same – so why not get your bike out of the shed and see how far you can go in an hour?” Wiggins, whose track pedigree includes three Olympic gold medals, is expected to set a mark which will last for some time. He will hope for a capacity 6,000 crowd to spur on his attempt, with tickets going on sale from 19 April, and the event will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Wiggins finished his Team Sky career at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday and will ride in next month’s inaugural Tour de Yorkshire for his eponymous team before preparing for the Hour as part of his return to the track. The world time-trial champion is targeting a British record eighth Olympic medal – he has four gold, one silver and two bronze – at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the four-man, four-kilometre team pursuit. The current hour record is 52.491km, set by the Australian Rohan Dennis in February after the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, reformed regulations, reigniting interest in the event. The German Jens Voigt was the first to make an attempt last September, recording 51.115km, a mark which stood for six weeks before Austria’s Matthias Brändle rode 51.852km, while Jack Bobridge was the first to fall short in his attempt. Dennis’s mark will come under threat from the Briton Alex Dowsett, who will make his attempt on 2 May in Manchester having had to postpone it previously after suffering a broken collarbone. |