How a UCI snafu may have given Dan Bigham an advantage in his hour record attempt

On Friday, Dan Bigham set a new UCI hour rRecord of 55.548 km on the velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland, beating Victor Campenaerts’ previous record by 459 m. It was an impressive ride by the Ineos Grenadiers performance engineer. Although not a professional cyclist, Bigham is also the British hour record holder. He beat Tour de France champion Sir Bradley Wiggins’ distance when he rode 54.723 km on the same Swiss track in October 2021.

The 30-year-old rode an unreleased Pinarello track bike to achieve the incredible feat. The bike he rode seems to be a modified Pinarello Bolide F time trial bike.

However, the ride was not without slight controversy, in some people’s eyes. According to a Facebook post by Ron Couwenhoven, the track was not set up as per UCI regulations. “A remarkable fact in Dan Bigham’s successful attack on Victor Campenaerts’ world hour record: the blue band at the bottom of the track was not cordoned off as prescribed by regulations. The foam blocks (pads) that were supposed to make it impossible to enter this forbidden zone were placed by the jury from the inside of the Côte d’Azur. As a result, there was still a few inches of space on the outside, which meant that Bigham was not forced above the black line, but could ride on it and sometimes even below it.”

He goes on to explain that watching the live stream it is clear that that this was the case. On each turn he could carve a few extra centimeters by riding on the black line. Additionally, since on the straights the blocks were wrong it left room to ride on the blue.”

As a result, Couwenhoven says, Bigham was also able to ride much lower when entering the corners than Victor Campenaerts in his attack on April 16, 2019.

The UCI regulations are as follows: “The blue belt will be made impassable by placing pads which must be placed every five meters. Starting from each chasing line to the end of the second turn after this chasing line.”

Of course, it’s not Bigham’s fault that the organizers may not have set up the track properly. But for the sake of argument, if you take into account that he completed 222 laps, the few centimeters here and there would in theory, be quite significant. Since the measurement is based on laps, not the measurement that you’d use on say, your Garmin, if he could do a little less each corner or straight, it would be to his advantage.Couwenhoven estimates that he might have gained 2.11 meters every lap, oe 105.5 centimeters per bend. That would work out to 468 meters, 11 more than the record. Of course, that’s assuming he rode on the black line the entire time, which he may or may not have done.

The record has been ratified by the UCI, and there has not been a protest, so his incredible will stand. However, it’s guaranteed that the next rider to try the attempt–Ineos-Grenadier’s time triallist extraordinaire Filippo Ganna  is rumoured to be up for the challenge, will have the blocks in the right spot.

Since the post, however, some other riders have piped in defending the Brit’s ride. Shaun Wallace, former professional and Olympian posted about the controversial take. “Possible UCI faux pas, but the rider didn’t get any advantage. Anyhow, UCI was there and effectively signed off on their position. At nearly 60kph you can’t ride below the line anyhow without losses.”

Adélia Neethling, former world masters points race champion, said that if anyone should be held accountable, it’s the officials. “It is the UCI Commissaire’s ruling what they do on attempts. They are in control and make rulings on what they see and not video footage post racing. They can also at any time decide to review any race and attempt and change the outcome. Maas van Beek did his hour behind the derny record without any foam pads on the track. When I did my hour behind the derny the UCI commissaire put out foam pads that made my attempt much more difficult.
Both are correct as it was under UCI ruling.”

You can compare the placement the pads below. The first is Campenaerts, the second is Bigham’s.