Daniel Bigham

Last updated

Daniel Bigham
2018 2019 UCI Track World Cup Berlin 078.jpg
Bigham in 2018
Personal information
Full nameDaniel John Bigham
Born (1991-10-02) 2 October 1991 (age 32)
Newcastle-under-Lyme, England
Team information
Disciplines
  • Track
  • Road
RoleRider
Rider type Time trialist (road), Pursuitist (track)
Amateur teams
2016Planet X–Northside
2017Brother DriverPlan NRG
2018 Ribble Pro Cycling
Professional team
2019–2021 Ribble Pro Cycling [1]
Major wins
Track
Team pursuit, World Championships (2022)
Hour record 55.548 km (19 August 2022)
Medal record
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Men's road bicycle racing
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2019 Yorkshire Team relay
Men's track cycling
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Team pursuit
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Glasgow Individual pursuit
European Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2024 Apeldoorn Individual pursuit
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2024 Apeldoorn Team pursuit
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Grenchen Individual pursuit
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2023 Grenchen Team pursuit
Representing Flag of England.svg  England
Men's track cycling
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2022 Birmingham Team pursuit

Daniel John Bigham (born 2 October 1991) is a British racing cyclist, [2] who has predominantly competed successfully in individual and team endurance track events, winning gold medals at national, European and world championships.

Contents

Racing career

Bigham won his first national track cycling titles in 2017, in the team pursuit, individual pursuit and kilometre time trial disciplines, also helping Great Britain to UCI World Cup victories in the team pursuit in 2017 and 2018. He won further track medals at the national level in 2019 and 2020, and in 2021 broke the UK men's hour record (see below). Also in 2021 and again in 2022, he took silver on the road in the men's individual time trial. At the 2022 British National Track Championships in Newport, Wales he won another British title, winning the individual pursuit. [3]

Bigham rode for UCI Continental team Ribble Weldtite from 2018 until 2021. [4] He then gained national attention being the figurehead of the Huub-Wattbike trade team. Despite their lack of budget and operating outside the British Cycling set-up, they achieved great success on the track, winning UCI World Cup events and bringing a variety of technical and strategic innovations to the team pursuit, [5] before changes were made to trade team eligibility rules.

Since 2022, he has worked for Ineos Grenadiers as a performance engineer, helping the team's riders improve their aerodynamic performance. [6] [7]

Alongside Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon and Oliver Wood, Bigham won silver in the team pursuit at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. [8] Following success in the team pursuit, Bigham has also competed in the individual pursuit at several international championships, winning silvers at the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and 2023 UEC European Track Championships, and then a gold at the 2024 UEC Championships, [9] where, with Ethan Hayter, Vernon and Tanfield, he also won a team pursuit gold. [10]

He has regularly raced against his Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Fillipo Ganna, most notably during their hour record attempts and at the 2023 UCI Track World Championships. [11]

Hour record

On 1 October 2021, Bigham rode 54.723 km (34.003 mi) at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland to break Bradley Wiggins's British national hour record. [12] He was ineligible to attempt the UCI record because he was not enrolled in the UCI's Registered Testing Pool anti-doping system, including a biological passport. [13] While all World Tour riders and ProTeam riders are in the testing pool, Bigham estimated it would cost him £8,000 to join as an individual. [14]

On 19 August 2022, Bigham broke the hour record with a distance of 55.548 km at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen. [15] Bigham held the record for just shy of two months; Filippo Ganna registered 56.792 km in October 2022, surpassing Bigham's mark by more than 1 km. [16] Bigham was a central part of the team in Ganna's attempt, [17] using the engineering knowledge he had developed in his own record to aid Ganna.

Ganna and Bigham met in the final of the individual pursuit at the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, with Ganna edging Bigham for gold by a fraction of a second.

Personal life

Bigham's is married to fellow cyclist Joss Lowden, former holder of the women's hour record, and have a child together. [18] [14] As of 2024, they reside in Andorra.

Major results

Road

2016
3rd Beaumont Trophy
2019
3rd Bronze medal uci.svg Team relay, UCI Road World Championships
4th Beaumont Trophy
5th Time trial, National Road Championships
2021
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2022
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships

Track

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References

  1. "Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. "Daniel Bigham". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. "2022 National Track Championships". British Cycling. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  4. "Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  5. www.eurosport.com https://www.eurosport.com/geoblocking.shtml . Retrieved 12 January 2024.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. Benson, Daniel (3 January 2022). "Dan Bigham joins technical staff at Ineos Grenadiers". Cyclingnews.com . Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  7. "Dan Bigham". Ineos Grenadiers.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  8. "Men's 4000m Team Pursuit - Finals - Gold". Birmingham 2022 Detailed Results. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  9. "Emma Finucane and Dan Bigham win gold at track European Championships". BBC Sport. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  10. "Great Britain's men win team pursuit gold at European Championships". BBC Sport. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  11. www.eurosport.com https://www.eurosport.com/geoblocking.shtml . Retrieved 12 January 2024.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Dan Bigham breaks Bradley Wiggins' British Hour Record". cyclingnews.com. October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  13. "Inside UCI" . Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Dowsett: It's desperately unfair that Bigham can't go for official Hour Record". 28 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  15. "Dan Bigham sets new UCI Hour Record of 55.548km". VeloNews.com. 19 August 2022.
  16. "Filippo Ganna smashes cycling's hour world record". BBC Sport. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. Fletcher, Patrick (5 October 2022). "Project Ganna – Dan Bigham the mastermind of plot to take down his own Hour Record". Cycling News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  18. "News: Joss Lowden Breaks Women's Hour Record". 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
Preceded by UCI hour record (55.548 km)
19 August 2022 – 8 October 2022
Succeeded by