Published April 22, 2019 08:45AM
Wiggins wants to see Thomas break hour record
Former world hour record holder Bradley Wiggins says his compatriot Geraint Thomas is suited to break the new record set by Victor Campenaerts.
Photo: Tim De WaeleMVH/Corbis/Getty Images (File).
Bradley Wiggins applauded Victor Campenaerts, who broke Wiggins’s hour record last week in Mexico.
Speaking on his weekly podcast on Eurosport, the 2012 Tour de France winner urged other top names to take on the hour, calling out Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin to attemp the painful run on the boards.
“Records are there to be broken. I hope someone has the balls to get up and have a go themselves now,” said Wiggins on the podcast. “‘G’ [Thomas] could do it tomorrow with his track craft; Dumoulin at some point in the future. It’s whether they’ve got time to invest the time that Victor invested in it, in order to maybe fail.”
The hour record has seen a flurry of attempts since the UCI tweaked the rules in 2014 to allow bike adaptations that fall within UCI guidelines. After a few earlier marks, in 2015, Wiggins set a record of 54.526km riding at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London. Another half dozen attempts fell short until Campenaerts broke the record April 16 at altitude in Mexico, becoming the first to exceed 55kph at 55.089km.
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Wiggins suggested that Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner and former track gold medalist in team pursuit, could better the mark.
“There’s no real reward for the hour. You don’t get a pay rise — you get nothing. It’s like getting a knighthood. You get sod all,” Wiggins said. “It’s made for Geraint. Geraint in Tour form last year. He could do it.”
Wiggins also lauded the recent winning run on the road by Mathieu van der Poel, and suggested that Team Sky/Ineos boss Dave Brailsford should sign the talented Dutch rider.
“He is the hottest property in cycling at the moment other than [Julian] Alaphilippe,” Wiggins said. “He’s a bigger potential. It’s weird to call him a potential because he’s already winning these big races … I would pick van der Poel. That’s no slouch on Alaphilippe; he’s phenomenal as well. But I think [van der Poel] could win a grand tour one day. It’s a little bit sad to think that they both may end up at Sky. It’s a bit like Manchester City and football. It’s nice having this spread of riders.”