‘Pretty epic’ – Dan Bigham beats Victor Campenaerts’ previous mark to smash UCI Hour Record

Britain’s Dan Bigham smashed the Hour record after he completed a distance of 55.548km around the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland.

Bigham, who is an aerodynamics specialist and race engineer for the British cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, beat the previous record of 55.089km, meaning he was almost half a kilometre faster than when the record was set by Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts back in 2019.

The Hour record is considered one of the most prestigious records in cycling as it is the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle.

Bigham was not the first to attempt to beat Campenaerts’ record, with five other riders attempting and failing to do so, including six-time British time trial champion Alex Dowsett in November 2021.

After breaking the record with his prototype Pinarello track bike, Bigham collapsed to the track before being celebrated and congratulated by his family, who were watching inside the velodrome.

“I was trying to ride 16-second laps for the second half and that’s a bit daunting as I’ve not done 16s laps for half an hour before,” Bigham said while catching his breath.

“It’s a bit mind-blowing, pretty epic. The support I’ve had around me [from Ineos] was second to none, and that made it a whole lot easier. Everything you would expect from the team.

“I knew I was on pace but you still have to complete the distance. I knew if I could get to 20 minutes to go and then push on a little bit.”

Bigham also said he had “played it safe” in the final minutes to evade any accidents.

“You start to worry about if you clip a pad and go down or puncture, there’s no time to respond, so you play a bit safe. It’s probably the wise thing to do. It was actually really enjoyable. It’s quite nice when you’ve got that safety net. In my head I wanted 55.5, so to put another 48 metres onto that I’m pretty happy.

“I had five minute splits, and I knew I had to be certain time gaps down and ahead. Then you start to do the maths… every lap is a half second in your pocket, and it gives you some confidence.”