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Bradley Wiggins misses National 10 TT record - but due to have another go on Wednesday (+ videos)

Strong winds cost Olympic and world champ chance to beat Alex Dowsett's time...

Sir Bradley Wiggins missed out on beating Alex Dowsett’s national 10 mile time trial record on Saturday – but he is due to be back for another crack at it on the course on the A63 near Hull on Wednesday evening.

Wiggins put in a time of 17 minutes 58 seconds to win the £50 top prize in the event, organised by Hull City Road Club, but strong winds meant he was almost half a minute off the record of 17 minutes 20 seconds Dowsett set in Cambridgeshire in May last year.

The presence of the 2012 Tour de France winner and current Olympic and world time trial champion meant Saturday’s event unsurprisingly got a great deal more attention than a typical club 10 – and Wiggins was even provided with a police motorcycle escort, reports the Yorkshire Post.

Spectators took to bridges across the dual carriageway as well as lay-bys alongside it to get a glimpse of the man who earlier this month was the undoubted star attraction at the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, which began 25 miles to the north east in Bridlington.

Besides the wind, Wiggins – wearing the rainbow stripes of UCI time trial world champion, although the event, organised by Cycling Time Trials, is not sanctioned by the sport’s global governing body – had to contend with a 45-minute delay to his start time as council workers repaired a street lamp damaged by strong gusts.

One of the riders who started before Wiggins on the course between South Cave and North Ferriby had the presence of mind to fit a rear-facing camera to his bike – giving a front-row seat view of what it is like to be overtaken by the world champion, which happens at around 4 minutes 15 seconds in.

Here’s the view of Andy Birdsall, who started 1 minute ahead of Wiggins – skip to 6 minutes 30 seconds to see him streak past.

Curiously, the event in which Wiggins rode was aimed at slower riders – but because he had not set a time for this distance under CTT rules during the past three years, his application was approved.

Wiggins is due to return to the same course on Wednesday for the Team Swift 10, which he has entered – his participation in both time trials forming part of his preparation for his attempt in London next month on another of Dowsett’s records, the Hour, with the Movistar rider setting a distance of 52.937km in Manchester earlier this month.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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16 comments

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RainbowSpirit | 6 years ago
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So I suppose every time there is a fatal car accident that road should be closed to cars?

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PhilReyFP2 | 9 years ago
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Not sure he will be turning up given he is Majorca

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darrenleroy | 9 years ago
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From my ignorant non-TTing point of view, would it not be safer to ride in the middle of the inside lane giving overtaking cars no option but to pull into the outside lane to pass? Is there a TT protocol for this?

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K Stand Ken replied to darrenleroy | 9 years ago
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darrenleroy wrote:

From my ignorant non-TTing point of view, would it not be safer to ride in the middle of the inside lane giving overtaking cars no option but to pull into the outside lane to pass? Is there a TT protocol for this?

There used to be a RTTC (now CTT) protocol on it - particularly if your name was Alf Engers. They were only too happy to suspend him (for 2 years, reduced to 1 year on appeal) for doing exactly that.

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Rupert | 9 years ago
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Racing on a dual carriage way with cars about  40 one has to think that this is a good place to wear a cycle helmet  39

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SuperG | 9 years ago
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What an awful road to ride on, never mind run an event.

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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Sub-18 for a 10. Makes me weep.

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tomTTF1Fricker | 9 years ago
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surely it's not really in the spirit of TT'ing to allow a motorbike escort behind him?

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kitkat | 9 years ago
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would be great if they stuck some metrics on it with Garmin Virb Edit or similar (you don't need a Virb, just a GPX/FIT file and the video in MP4)

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pamplemoose | 9 years ago
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Good to see he was wearing a helmet.

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bdsl | 9 years ago
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10 Miles in 17 minutes 58 seconds is an average speed of 33.40 mph.

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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"giving a front-row seat view of what it is like to be overtaken by the world champion, which happens at around 4 minutes 15 seconds in"

...and at 4'39" (top) and 7'00" (bottom) you see classic examples of why holding any kind of cycling event on a UK dual carriageway is a dumb idea.

Yes, cyclists have a right to be there. Yes, motorists should wait, indicate, and pull into the right hand lane. But they don't.

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CapriciousZephyr replied to KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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KiwiMike wrote:

...and at 4'39" (top) and 7'00" (bottom) you see classic examples of why holding any kind of cycling event on a UK dual carriageway is a dumb idea.

Yes, cyclists have a right to be there. Yes, motorists should wait, indicate, and pull into the right hand lane. But they don't.

It's the same vehicle in both those instances you cite. I agree they're bad, but I thought the one at 2:12 in the upper video was even worse: car was going faster, but had clear sight of the rider from a long distance out with absolutely nothing in the right-hand lane all the way while he approached. No excuse whatsoever for passing like that. Maybe I'm a wimp, but I can't say I'm tempted ever to do a TT like that now...

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KiwiMike replied to CapriciousZephyr | 9 years ago
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CapriciousZephyr wrote:

It's the same vehicle in both those instances you cite. ... Maybe I'm a wimp, but I can't say I'm tempted ever to do a TT like that now...

Good spot. Hope someone from the club reports it.

Don't know what it's like oop narth, but the local Andover Wheelers club down here holds TT's on the ***A303***  35 .

Sorry, not A303. 'M3 west extension'.

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pruaga replied to CapriciousZephyr | 9 years ago
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CapriciousZephyr wrote:

It's the same vehicle in both those instances you cite.

When I watched both videos I wondered if that was the same car and went back to check: looks like AG03 DWK.

Too many eyes on Wiggins, not enough on the other guys.

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Ronald replied to CapriciousZephyr | 9 years ago
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CapriciousZephyr wrote:
KiwiMike wrote:

...and at 4'39" (top) and 7'00" (bottom) you see classic examples of why holding any kind of cycling event on a UK dual carriageway is a dumb idea.

Yes, cyclists have a right to be there. Yes, motorists should wait, indicate, and pull into the right hand lane. But they don't.

It's the same vehicle in both those instances you cite. I agree they're bad, but I thought the one at 2:12 in the upper video was even worse: car was going faster, but had clear sight of the rider from a long distance out with absolutely nothing in the right-hand lane all the way while he approached. No excuse whatsoever for passing like that. Maybe I'm a wimp, but I can't say I'm tempted ever to do a TT like that now...

None of those overtakes fit 'give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car' (Highway code 163), which on a dual carriage way is completely in the right hand lane, so should all be reported to police.

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