Sir Bradley Wiggins misses out on 10-mile record at Hull time trial

Sir Bradley Wiggins' bid to break the British 10-mile record in an amateur time trial held just outside Hull fell short on Saturday.

Wiggins’ time of 17min 58sec was enough to win the event and claim the £50 first prize but it was 38 seconds off the the record Alex Dowsett set last May.

Cycling aficionados who packed the motorway bridges and lay-bys on an undistinguished stretch of road between South Cave and North Ferriby were proved right in their fears that the breeze was too strong to give Wiggins a realistic chance.

Wiggins launched himself from a standing start on a South Cave slip road 45 minutes later than planned after the Highways Agency chose an inopportune moment to cone off one westbound lane in order to fix a street light that had been struck in a collision on Friday night.

When he finally got under way, wearing the world time-trial champion’s rainbow jersey, Wiggins was accompanied by a police out-rider and caused something of a log-jam as passengers made the most of a rare opportunity to snap him in mid-race at such close quarters.

Wiggins was the 120th starter in a race aimed specifically at the slower end of the time-trial spectrum. Over 40 applications had been rejected by virtue of the fact that their times were too fast, but the organisers, City Road Club (Hull), could not reject that of Wiggins as he has not set a time over this distance in the last three years.

Wiggins may attempt the 10-mile record again but, for now, his attention will turn to his attempt to break the world hour record in London, which will be screened live on Sky Sports.