Dan Bigum confirmed that he will attempt the Hour Record (open in new tab) in a week's time, revealing that he has already ridden 54.7 km in training.

The British rider will not qualify for the official UCI Hour Record (open in new tab) of 55.089 km, currently held by Victor Kampenaerts.

The benchmark is currently 54.526 km, set by Bradley Wiggins (open in new tab) when he broke the world record in 2015.

"I wouldn't go for it if I didn't think it was possible," Biggum said after finishing 16th in the elite time trial at the World Championships, the first UCI-class time trial of his career. [The 54.7-km trial was no pressure, I was just happy to be riding. But when you set a date and time and go into the race, it's a different game. I am confident, but it won't be easy."

Bigum will take on the challenge at the 450-meter-high Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland, most likely in early October, the day after Jos Roden's attempt at Victoria Bussi's 48.008 km world record.

"To qualify for the UCI Hour Record, you have to be in a test pool registered with the UCI. Then there's the organizational costs, which can be as much as £25,000," Bigam explained.

"Jos went through it and received full support from Drops Le Cor. For me, my team doesn't have £25,000. I basically have to fund it myself. That is not a bad thing. There is less pressure and stress to pay out of my own pocket than out of someone else's. But hopefully this is a stepping stone. If I can come close to or break this record, maybe people will be invested in it and I can stand here in 12 months and say I'm going to challenge Campenaerts' record."

Judging by his performance at the World Championships, Bigham seems to be in good shape before his challenge.

The 29-year-old Briton has rarely raced on the road, only on British soil, but in Flanders he was not outclassed by the best in the world and set the tone with a couple of impressive splits at the start of the early stages. He lost a few places in the last few kilometers, but finished in 16th place.

"In my head I wanted to finish in the top 10, and I knew that was achievable," said the Italian. But for my first World Championships, I don't think that's bad. But for my first World Championships, I don't think it's bad. It's my first UCI time trial, so I still have a lot to learn."

Also at this event, Bigham again wore the Great Britain jersey.

Bigham decided to work as an aerodynamics consultant for his Danish Federation rivals after limited opportunities to compete for the national team, while spearheading the successful Hube Wattbike team in major track events.

When Denmark reached the Team Pursuit final, his role drew national attention and he was branded a traitor.

"I've always been happy to roll up my sleeves and tell it like it is, and to be honest, I used to disagree with things. [29] [30] "I would encourage all athletes, no matter where they are or what their position is, to stand up for themselves if they think something is not right. People listen. British Cycling is not a big corporation that is sometimes demonized, it exists purely to support British Cycling. "

While the track setup has its own politics, Bigam's return was on the road and heavily influenced by national selector Matt Brammeier.

Bigum works for Ribble Weldite at the continental level and handles consulting work not only for Denmark but also for the Jumbo Visma and Canyon Slam World Tour teams.

As such, he had relatively few opportunities to showcase his time trial skills at the international level, but Branmeier trusted him and chose only World Tour rider and former UCI Hour Record holder Alex Doucette as his team relay.

"We had a good reputation on the road," said Bigum. [Matt Brammeier is top-notch, "I met with him about 12 months ago and we talked at length about what it would take to qualify for the Euros, the World Championships, the Commonwealth Games, and possibly the Olympics."

"What does it look like from an execution standpoint? What do we need in terms of power, aerodynamics, and results?", "Who are we racing with?", "Who do we want to beat?", "What kind of power file do we want to see?", "When and how ......" . Matt is great. He went out of his way to make sure I could answer those questions for him,

"He basically accepted that I would compete in national time trials on courses where athletes he knew or for whom he had data competed. For example, I ran 25 in Shropshire, shaving 3.5 minutes off Steve Cummings' course record for 2019. If you look at the numbers, my power is there and my CDA is one of the lowest."