Cool, calm and collected. Sir Bradley Wiggins may have been nervous ahead of his successful UCI Hour Record attempt on Sunday at the Lee Valley Velodrome in London, but he barely showed it.
A clean-shaven Wiggins appeared in front of the packed, sell-out crown in the former London 2012 venue to try and beat Alex Dowsett’s mark of 52.937km. He put in a typically measured ride to claim a new record of 54.526km, over one and a half kilometres greater than Dowsett.
Rather than collapsing after his ride, Wiggins did several laps of the velodrome, walked around and spoke to the press and well wishers. His team had even managed to rustle up a jersey within minutes emblazoned with his record in gold.
Despite looking like he’d barely made an effort after the event, Wiggins said that it is unlikely he will make a second attempt at the record.
Sir Bradley Wiggins walks out onto the track
Wiggins starts his effort
Sir Wiggins soon gets into his stride in front of the packed crowd
Plenty of vocal support from the crowd, but Wiggins elected not to have background music
Throughout his effort, Wiggins barely moved his position
Coach Heiko Salzwedel gave Wiggins details of how much he was ahead of schedule
By the mid-way point Wiggins was comfortably up on Dowsett’s mark
The crowd got into the spirit of the event
Wiggins only showed signs of the effort near the very end of his hour
The end of Wiggins’s Hour
Although he knew he’d broken the record, he didn’t know exactly by how much straight away
After a couple of warm-down laps, Wiggins climbed off the bike
Waiting for confirmation of the official figure
His distance is confirmed, and now it’s time for Wiggins to celebrate
Sir Bradley Wiggins is congratulated by Miguel Indurain
A very happy Wiggins is interviewed by the media
