'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. Ad 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.

European ChampionshipsGermany's Friedrich clinches glory in women's keirin final at European Championships16/08/2022 AT 18:55 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.