Graeme Obree is certain that Sir Bradley Wiggins will succeed him, Chris Boardman, Alex Dowsett and Yvonne McGregor as British holders of cycling’s Blue Riband. However, the Scottish cyclist who is synonymous with the Hour record harbours a secret hope that the 2012 Tour de France winner will not put the record on the shelf. “If he does less than 55km I don’t think the chapter is closed,” says Obree. “I want him to be good but not great so that the story keeps on rolling.”
Wiggins’s intensive preparations for Sunday at the Lee Valley VeloPark are in marked contrast to the lack of resources that marked Obree’s two Hour records in 1993 and 1994. Wiggins has enjoyed training camps in Majorca, the services of Britain’s endurance coach, Heiko Salzwedel, and kit makers such as Pinarello, Rapha and Jaguar working to ensure every base is covered. Obree built his own bike, laboriously creating flattened-out aerodynamic forks and including a washing machine bearing so he could have a narrow, aerodynamic bottom bracket.
The tales of Obree’s battles against depression and alcoholism off the bike, and Boardman and officialdom on it, have been immortalised in books and on screen. These days, he still rides his bike, and he is involved in a film of his life story, Battle Mountain, which will launch at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and in writing his third book, which he describes as “about well‑being”.
Obree believes “it’s a dead cert” that the London Olympic gold medallist will surpass the distance of 52.937km set by Alex Dowsett on 2 May in Manchester. The question is, by how much? “There’s been a lot of hype from his camp, there is a huge weight of expectation but 55km is a tall order for any human being. We’ve seen Jack Bobridge and other guys fail and that’s an insight into just how hard it is. I’d be surprised if he didn’t break Alex Dowsett’s record, but you have to bear in mind that Dowsett didn’t reach his full potential.”
Dowsett began his 60 minutes extremely conservatively – his opening lap is believed to be one of the slowest for any timed event at the Manchester track – meaning he had strength remaining to press on in the final 20 minutes, but probably could have gone further if he had taken a more aggressive pacing strategy. Obree believes Dowsett could try to regain his record if Wiggins does not get past 54.5km. That in turn could result in a repetition of the golden era in the 1990s when Obree and Boardman jousted for the record. Looking back to those days, he is keen to remind people that a third Briton held the record, Yorkshire’s McGregor, “clean to the core, probably one of the most amazing records ever done, 47.4km on a steel frame”.
“The risk for Brad is not doing enough to stave off Dowsett coming back,” he says. “In that case you could have a repeat of the Obree and Boardman thing. And there are two other riders, Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin, who could try it. If he does over 55, that could put it on the shelf for another generation.”
This is what happened with Eddy Merckx’s distance of 49.431km in 1972, believed to be unbeatable until Francesco Moser stepped up in 1984. Moser’s record was also held to be out of reach until Obree made his attempt in 1993 with the help of a radically aerodynamic tuck position.
Obree also devised the stretched-out Superman used by Boardman in 1996 to set what is regarded as the ultimate distance: 56.375km. His innovations placed him at the heart of the UCI’s attempts to regulate the use of aerodynamic equipment, which led to them creating two different records, but also resulted in a complete loss of interest in the Hour. Boardman’s view is that, as well as the official Hour using kit that is within the rules, riders should not be afraid to go for the distance using whatever is available.
The reunification of the record has meant it has been rebooted from a new benchmark, Boardman’s 2000 beating of Merckx using similar kit, referred to as the “Athlete’s Hour”, but with riders permitted to use the same aero aids allowed in timed events on the track. That gave an obvious advantage to anyone who attempted the run early on, a brief window of opportunity that has been exploited to the full since Jens Voigt tried in September.
Obree is convinced that the UCI has done the right thing in reunifying the record but what the record needs now, he feels, is some kind of official symbol that is borne by those who have broken it, in the same way that winning a world title gives a cyclist the right to put the rainbow bands on the sleeves of their racing jerseys.
He notes that Dowsett is the first rider to beat the 52.713km he set in 1994. “To me, it didn’t feel like a new era until Dowsett passed me – finally someone has done more than I did. The Hour record has been brought alive, which is great from my point of view. I just hope that Brad steps up on Sunday and feels he’s done himself justice, that he couldn’t do any more. That’s what he needs to achieve.”
.jpg?w=600)
