Sir Bradley Wiggins insists attempt to break cycling’s world hour record will be one-off because he is so confident of succeeding

Sir Bradley Wiggins attempts to break Alex Dowsett’s mark of 52.937km
Wiggins insists his attempt on Sunday in London will be a one-off
He is confident of victory, admitting everything in training went to plan

Published:
21:49 GMT, 6 June 2015

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Updated:
00:38 GMT, 7 June 2015

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Sir Bradley Wiggins insists his attempt to break cycling’s world hour record in London will be a one-off.

There will be no re-runs should he fail to break Alex Dowsett’s mark of 52.937km, partly because he is so confident in the training he has done, admitting this week that the last six weeks have gone exactly to plan.

The only thing that might go awry is something over which he has no control — the weather. Specifically, the air pressure. Low air pressure makes for faster conditions. But that is not what is forecast.

Reigning world time-trial champion on the road Sir Bradley Wiggins will tackle the UCI Hour Record on Sunday

Wiggins will attempt to set a new UCI Hour Record at the Lee Valley velodrome on Sunday

Yet it is a sign of Wiggins’s mood that he managed a wry smile as he explained: ‘The only thing that affects how fast you go on the day is the air pressure, which looks like it’s going to be one of the highest recorded on Sunday.

‘That could be the difference between doing Chris (Boardman’s ultimate) record and doing 55km. It could make a kilometre difference. But if it’s low air pressure, then game on.’

Technically, Boardman’s record does not count, since it was done on a bike later declared illegal, so it is Dowsett’s that matters. Yet Wiggins seems to assume that, whatever the air pressure, he will beat that.

He will ride to a strict schedule — aiming to complete each lap in 16.2 seconds — with his coach, Heiko Salzwedel, ‘walking the line,’ meaning he will stand before or after the finish line, depending on whether Wiggins is up or down on his schedule.

The job for Wiggins will be to focus on Salzwedel and ignore a 6,000-strong crowd urging him to go faster.

‘The closest I’ve had to that sort of support was the Olympic time trial in London. It was wall-to-wall people. It didn’t stop the whole way but you have to block it out.’

Come 6.30pm, Wiggins rolls out of the start gate and enters his own world.

‘I don’t want to come off and think, ‘I could’ve gone faster’. The love I have for the record meant I really wanted to do my homework, to try to get the most out of it as possible. Because I’m never going to do it again.’