Will Victor Campenaerts kill the 55,089 kilometers in an hour? The hour record holder explains in his vlog that Dan Bigham will be his successor on Friday. Bigham must pave the way for Filippo Ganna. “And if they do it with Ganna later, they want to set a time that will last forever.”
Filippo Ganna had set his sights on the hour record, but enthusiasm has crumbled in recent weeks after a grueling Tour.
Ganna doesn’t seem to be in top form, but his employer Ineos Grenadiers isn’t throwing the preparations away.
Dan Bigham is the spare part on duty. The Briton is a performance engineer for Ineos and broke the British record (54.723 km) in Grenchen in 2021.
So on Friday he attacks the hour record of Victor Campenaerts on that Swiss track and our compatriot has already said goodbye mentally to his chrono.
I don’t even doubt that my record will be broken.
“I think my record will be improved. I don’t even doubt it,” says Campenaerts in his vlog.
“I don’t know Bigham very well, but he is very intelligent and he set the British record. That is, he was faster than Bradley Wiggins. His distance is also very close to my record.”
Bigham is not under contract with Ineos as a rider, but as an engineer and has put his shoulders under the path that Filippo Ganna should have followed in recent months.
“He is preparing Ganna’s attempt. That attack has been postponed because he is not flying.”
“If they want to break the hour record with the Italian, they want to do it in a phenomenal way. With a time that will last forever.”
“But this Ganna has suffered in the Tour and is not top. Bigham has been preparing this for Ganna since the beginning of this year, but has also tested a lot himself. That is what he does in his life.”
(read on under the Instagram post)
“Maybe they have already tested successfully”
And so Victor Campenaerts knows that he will have to hand in his prestigious title after Friday.
“With their marginal gains, he will break the record with the same power as his last attempt.”
“I’m proud to have held the record for so long, but this is a good test for Ineos. If they support Bigham, they know it will be successful.”
“They won’t gamble and they won’t want to look bad. So they may have already tested successfully.”
“And if mistakes are made or if there are issues, they know for Ganna.”
