Saturday 23 May 2015 13:38, UK
Sir Dave Brailsford believes Sir Bradley Wiggins has all the attributes needed to break the world hour record next month.
Movistar's Alex Dowsett set the latest mark on Saturday in Manchester with a distance of 52.937km but Wiggins, who has been training at about 54km pace, has said he expects to beat Dowsett’s distance if the conditions are favourable.
Wiggins' record attempt, at the Lee Valley VeloPark on Saturday, June 7, will be shown live on Sky Sports.
Brailsford, who has not been involved in Wiggins' preparations, told Sky Sports News HQ: "Bradley is going well. He has been training on the pace that he hopes to hold for an hour.
"He has been working back at the Manchester velodrome, so he is in very good hands. It is building up to a big event on June 7, there is going to be a capacity crowd, it is live on TV and I think everybody is expecting him to set the bar.
"When you expect to see a fantastic performance it's often difficult to deliver and execute that performance to that level but Bradley is one of the few people who time and time again can do that. It's going to be exciting."
Dowsett used to ride for Brailsford at Team Sky but left to join Spanish outfit Movistar ahead of the 2013 season.
"I was impressed by Alex's effort," Brailsford added. "Alex is a nice guy and he prepared with great detail. He has been really focused on this hour record. It suits him, he is a great time-triallist.
"The performance that he put in there was super, great for British cycling, great for Alex and it's set the bar for Bradley really."
A Wiggins-Dowsett tussle for the record evokes memories of a period in the mid-1990s when Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman went wheel-to-wheel, the record falling four times in an eight-month period.
Wiggins told The Guardian: “Based on what I’ve been doing in the last three weeks I should be quite a way ahead of Alex's time. We’ve been training on 54km dead as a guide but it could go 1km further or 500m shorter depending on conditions on the day."
Sir Bradley Wiggins' hour record attempt will be screened exclusively live on Sky Sports on Sunday, June 7.
