Sir Bradley Wiggins will reportedly attempt the UCI Hour record next summer in Mallorca. Local reports say the Team Sky rider will go for it in July or August, and hopes British fans will come out to support him and enjoy some summer sun.
The Diario de Mallorca reports that the attempt would be made on the track at the Palma Arena, where Wiggins won team and individual pursuit gold at the 2007 UCI World Championships, the year the venue was inaugurated.
The newspaper says Wiggins revealed his plans at a dinner in late October on the island at the Tolo’s restaurant in Puerto Pollença, which he has frequented for a number of years.
Held to celebrate his victory in the time trial in the UCI Road World Championships in September, the dinner was hosted by the restaurant’s owner, Tomeu Llompart.
Joan Llaneras, technical director of the Palma Arena, was among those present as Wiggins spoke of his two big targets for 2015 – Paris-Roubaix, where he secured a top ten finish this year, and the Hour record, planning to train for it in both Mallorca and Manchester.
The latter is back in fashion after the UCI changed the rules earlier this year to permit modern, aerodynamic bikes and equipment and has been broken twice in recent weeks, first by Jens Voigt in his final competitive effort then last Thursday by Matthias Brändle.
Llompart, said to be a close friend and confidant of Wiggins, has reportedly been entrusted with helping organise the record attempt.
Wiggins has already said he is unlikely to race next year’s Tour de France as he turns his attention towards competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016 in the team pursuit, aiming for what would be his fifth Olympic gold medal.
30 thoughts on “Bradley Wiggins to attempt Hour record on Mallorca next summer?”
How many times will it fall
How many times will it fall before then?
Notsofast wrote:How many
More times than it will fall afterwards!
Go Wiggo – this event is made
Go Wiggo – this event is made for him!
Um, Manchester? We can turn
Um, Manchester? We can turn the heating up.
Where’s my plane ticket then
Where’s my plane ticket then Wiggo?
There are 3 perfect locations
There are 3 perfect locations in the UK to do it, London, Manchester and Glasgow….but he’ll do it in Mallorca…..nice one Bradley….I hope no British fans go out and support you.
Gkam84 wrote:There are 3
What about Newport?
Welsh boy wrote:Gkam84
Nothing wrong with Newport, but it only seats 500. That is why I left it off my list, London seats 6000, Manchester 3500 and Glasgow 2500.
By the time you take into consideration the media that will want seating, along with sponsors. Newport doesn’t quite have capacity for many fans aswell
yeah, and that Chris Hoy went
yeah, and that Chris Hoy went to *BOLIVIA* for his record attempts. And Jens Voigt didn’t do his hour in Germany. booooo
Honestly, have a listen to yourselves.
andyp wrote:yeah, and that
Hoy went to altitude. There isn’t anything at altitude in the UK
Both Jens and Matthias did they records in Switzerland, home of the UCI…..and I’ll bet there was something in it for the teams for doing that.
Bradley can do the record wherever he wants for all I care, I’m just laughing that he wants fans to be there, but is passing up the world class facilities in the UK to go abroad and do it
Hope it’s in August have a 2
Hope it’s in August have a 2 week holiday booked in Majorca for then. 😀
Surely London would have been
Surely London would have been perfect for him with it being the “fastest velodrome in the world” and all that.
What’s the betting he’ll make
What’s the betting he’ll make it even more affordable for UK fans to attend by scheduling it for a UK school holiday period so we won’t have to take the kids out of school to witness the event and have to pay the fine.
WHATS WRONG WITH LONDON, MANCHESTER, OR GLASGOW !!!!!
usedtobefaster wrote:
WHATS
Aside from the choice of cycling venue – quite a lot 😉
Perhaps I have the logic
Perhaps I have the logic flawed, but why would record attempts be at altitude as opposed to at sea level? More O2 at sea level is surely more conducive to better performance?
Bontie wrote:Perhaps I have
There is also a theory that riding at altitude is an advantage because the air is thinner and therefore less wind resistance. As long as you are acclimatised to the reduced oxygen at altitude.
The thinner air at altitude
The thinner air at altitude means less air resistance, which at 50km/h is pretty substantial.
Obviously there is a balance to be struck between this benefit and the reduced O2 available for respiration at higher altitude, but the science suggests that the decrease in drag means more speed despite the small reduction in power output.
The sweet spot appears to be a few thousand feet above sea level.
Bontie wrote:Perhaps I have
That was my thought as well. But once acclimatised the 02 difference may have no effect but the drop in air density might offer less resistance?
Before we all get too giddy,
Before we all get too giddy, this isn’t really anything.
It’s just words from a restaurant owner in a local (freebie?) newspaper. He may claim to be a close friend, but if this photo is the best he can manage then I can’t see them really being that close: http://fotos00.diariodemallorca.es/2014/11/01/318×200/palma-arena-1.jpg That’s very much got the vibe of ‘photo for the wall’.
Before we have him hung, drawn an quartered for not attempting the record at the Velodrome, Hoydrome or Torydrome lets just wait until something a bit more official pops it’s head up.
Lets be honest, there’s
Lets be honest, there’s people on here that would have found something to moan about even if he decided to do it in their back garden. They feel the need to bitch because it’s Wiggins.
‘Hoy went to altitude. There
‘Hoy went to altitude. There isn’t anything at altitude in the UK’
No, but Mallorca tends to be warmer than the UK. Warmer temperature = less dense air = less resistance = faster ride. In the end, though, he has the right to do it wherever he wants.
The optimum condition for an
The optimum condition for an hour attempt is low air density as this reduces the friction on the rider from the molecules in the air. The air density is affected by two factors: temperature (hotter = lower air density) and pressure (low = lower air density).
Therefore, Mallorca in the summer is not the optimum as is generally sits under high pressure (giving the good weather) and isn’t at a very high altitude.
This article is worth a read with respect to the UK velodromes. A stormy night is best, with the thermostat turned right up: http://www.eis2win.com/Pages/news_cyclingstory.aspx
However there is a trade-off as lower air density means lower oxygen per breath, hence the need for altitude training.
Also, if Wiggo thinks he can absolutely smash by a decent margin it then he may not have to worry much about the performance advantages of one venue over the other and may just be open to commercial offers enticing him to a certain venue…….
I’m just surprised that the
I’m just surprised that the BBC hasn’t run an article about him using a microphone without wearing a helmet.
Froome will announce he’ll do
Froome will announce he’ll do too, then wiggo will spit the dummy, have a cry in the corner and call off due to an ingrown hair.
:B
For anyone who does track
For anyone who does track riding, you will know that no major UK velodrome has enough time to allow this event to take place in the next 12 months.
The schedules are jam packed months in advance.
I suspect, if this story is true, that Mallorca have the space and are willing to accommodate things, without BC and SC sticking their neb in.
Flying Scot wrote:For anyone
There would be plenty of time at Manchester, I’m fairly sure the velodrome staff, British Cycling and a few others wouldn’t have their noses put too much out of joint if Wiggins wanted to use the track for a few hours to build up to an hour record.
I’d imagine London and Glasgow would be similar.
farrell wrote:There would be
Would there? The velodromes are council-run sports facilities, as ‘Flying Scot’ says, the schedules are packed months in advance. You don’t just turn up and ask to use the track for a bit to practice for The Hour – you need the full training team, coaches, conditions etc in place, it needs to fit in with the athlete’s training and you don’t just bump 40 paying customers off it cos Brad wants to use it for a bit.
Training sessions at all the indoor tracks now are packed out, Manchester is in use 8am – 10pm 7 days a week…
Nice to see all the support for cycling in the UK but when that takes the form of whinging that an event isn’t in the UK or a British athlete isn’t taking part in [event] it just looks like sour grapes.
crazy-legs wrote:farrell
— farrell
Given that British Cycling are based at the Velodrome, having the support team there really shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.
The velodrome is in use quite a lot, I agree, but as big chunks of this time are taken up by British Cycling I’m reasonably confident that British Cycling could come to some arrangement with British Cycling in order to let a member of the British Cycling team attempt the hour record on behalf of British Cycling.
Here is the timetable for Manchester: http://www.nationalcyclingcentre.com/media/12771/Velodrome-Timetable-Sept-2014-April-2015.pdf
That does look pretty full but obviously they can’t be set in stone,because those sessions will all get shunted whenever there is an event on at the Velodrome, like they will for the Revolution events.
I reckon British Cycling and the NCC would be happy to miss out on a few hundred quid a week for a few months in order to assist Wiggins’ hour attempt. It’s something slightly different to a few tasters sessions or a corporate jolly/team building guff. The NCC would be even happier if meant that they would get the chance of knocking out a few thousand tickets at £20 a head if he attempted it there.
I *suspect* crazy-legs is a
I *suspect* crazy-legs is a bit more up-to-speed on the situation than you or I 😉
andyp wrote:I *suspect*
That’s very possible, I’m certainly not an expert, just someone looking at a timetable and saying it *can* be done.
I don’t think it will be done, but it could be done.