Sir Bradley Wiggins' latest escapades seem to be attracting as much interest as ever with his cycling fans, as his one-hour record attempt on 7th June this year is already a sell-out. The former Tour de France winner's ongoing popularity with the general public was clearly demonstrated by tickets for the event, running out just seven minutes after going on sale last Friday. Wiggins is aiming to set new distance figures for one hour at the Lee Valley VeloPark in front of a capacity audience at the venue of around 6,000 people, with British cycling followers no doubt hoping to recreate the atmosphere generated by fans at the Olympic Velodrome in 2012.
Wiggins is now 34-years-old and reaching the end of his career in the saddle, but is clearly aiming to maximise the remaining time left by setting new milestones in the sport. The hour record is one ambition he has had in mind for some time now, after which he then looks forward to what he hopes will be a glorious end to his Olympic adventures in Rio in 2016 on the track in the team pursuit, with four golds already safely secured in previous Olympic Games (he also has a silver and two bronze medals). Not that Wiggins will be resting up between now and the one-hour attempt, as he is already committed to competing in the first staging of the Tour de Yorkshire in May.
For the thousands of 'Wiggo' fans who were left disappointed to miss out on tickets for the hour record attempt at the venue, there is also the option of watching the action live on Sky Sports.
It should make for intriguing viewing with interest having been reignited in recent years in the challenging event, as a number of riders have targeted the record.
Wiggins will currently need to surpass the efforts of the Australian Rohan Dennis who set the new record of 52.491km in February of this year, after an earlier attempt by his compatriot Jack Bobridge was unsuccessful.
Fellow Brit Alex Dowsett, the time trial champion from last year's Commonwealth Games, is also planning on attacking the record in Manchester in early May, after having had to defer his original plans when he broke his collarbone earlier this year. Dowsett is expected to be the fifth person to have a go at setting new figures in this year alone, with the other two riders who missed their target being Thomas Dekker and Gustav Larsson.
Both Dowsett and Wiggins will hope for better fortune than Dame Sarah Storey who sadly missed out on the women's equivalent hour figures back in February of 2015. She did break the British and Paralympian C5 best marks for the hour, with a distance of 45.502km, but Dutchwoman Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel's overall world record of 46.065km remained intact from 2003.
