On This Day: Bradley Wiggins' record-breaking ride
Sir Bradley Wiggins broke the UCI hour cycling record on this day five years ago.
Tickets sold out in seven minutes to watch Wiggins ride around London’s Lee Valley VeloPark – formerly the Olympic Velodrome – for 60 minutes.
Wiggins set a new mark of 54.526 kilometres, beating the previous record of fellow Briton Alex Dowsett by more than 1.5km.
The 2012 Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic gold medallist was happy with his efforts despite targeting more than 55km – high-pressure conditions were not favourable.
Then 35, Wiggins said afterwards: “When you’re out there you think it’s never going to end. You just try to break it down to little segments. You keep trying to give yourself hope.”
The record lasted less than four years before Belgian Victor Campenaerts broke the 55km mark in Mexico.