On Friday August 19 2022, Great Britain’s Dan Bigham became the world hour-record holder, registering 55.548km around Switzerland’s Grenchen Velodrome. The 30-year-old bettered the existing record of 55.089km set by Lotto-Soudal’s Victor Campenaerts at altitude in Aguascalientes, Mexico, in 2019. And bettered his own 2021 British record of 54.723km. It was an astounding effort from Bigham, who’s not even a WorldTour rider.
Though he’s employed by Ineos Grenadiers, he’s their performance engineer. It just so happens that the former-Formula One engineer is incredibly good at practising what he preaches. Which begs the question – Dan Bigham, born of Newcastle-under-Lyme, what was the secret of your success? “I’d say it’s about 50% physiology and 50% equipment,” Bigham tells us from his Andorran home. Which is why our Rouleur exclusive comes to you in two parts. Today, it’s that ‘50% physiology’. Next time, it’s ‘50% gear’…
Dan, congratulations on an incredible effort. How did you feel physically compared to your 2021 effort?
I felt in a nicer place, if there is one in the hour record. Effectively, I rode the first half pretty much the same as a Grenchen practice run back in June. However, whereas in June I started to collapse a little bit and drop back towards 54-55km/hr in the last 15-20 minutes, this time I managed to keep it together, riding around 56.25km/hr in the last half-hour. That said, unlike in 2021, in June I did still break the hour record but it was more challenging.
In Grenchen last year, much was made of your average power output coming in at around 350 watts – around 100 watts fewer than Sir Bradley Wiggins’ record from 2015. This year?
It was pretty much bang in that ballpark, though I didn’t attach a power meter. But my CdA (co-efficient of drag) was good, coming in at around 0.15 [note: this is incredible. World-class riders would be delighted with anything below 0.18-0.20], though it tends to drift ever so slightly in the last 10-15 minutes when you’re really trying to empty the tank.
Ultimately, the idea was never about raising my physiological window and putting more power out. It was about ensuring that I can achieve more with what I have in extreme conditions. Three days prior to my record attempt it rained pretty hard, so the humidity in the velodrome went up to around 52% compared to 38% for my 2021 attempt. Temperature was 27.5°C versus 26°C last time. So from an…