Bradley Wiggins smashes UCI Hour Record attempt at the Olympic Park velodrome

Wiggins finished with 54.526km, almost two km in front of previous record

(Getty Images)

Sir Bradley Wiggins smashed the UCI Hour Record by almost two kilometres.

The four-time Olympic gold medal winner and former Tour de France winner finished with an official distance of 54.526km, smashing Alex Dowsett's previous record of 52.937km.

Wiggins got up to 218 laps in his hour at the Velodrome in the Olympic Park, six laps further than Dowsett managed.

As it happend: Re-live Wiggins' ride here

Wiggins had set himself a target of over 55km (220 laps) and a record which would last a generation, thus bearing comparison with Bob Beamon's long jump world record from 1968 which lasted almost 23 years.

But the conditions at the Lee Valley VeloPark - formerly known as the Olympic Velodrome - were not conducive to such a distance and Dowsett may be among those encouraged to try again.

For the 35-year-old Wiggins it was a one-time opportunity, with the Rio Olympics next summer likely to be his swansong.

Shorn of the beard he has grown since his distinctive sideburns sported in 2012 attracted too much attention, Wiggins was clearly keen to get started.

Roared on by the partisan crowd, which included fellow Tour winner and one-time Hour Record holder Miguel Indurain, he went through 100 laps at 54.612kph speed, well ahead of the pace set by Dowsett, who achieved his record in Manchester on May 2.

Wiggins, with his metronomic pedalling style and cadence, was consistently above 54.5kph pace, but his grimace became increasingly pronounced.

He had spoken of breaking the ride into five 12-minute segments and compared the final section to being like boxing's fabled fight, the Thrilla in Manilla.

He surpassed Dowsett's distance with just under two minutes to go and continued to push forwards.

"I'm glad it's done," he says. "That's the closest I will come to knowing what it's like to have a baby.

"It's tortuous. It's such a relief and was such a build-up. We've been through so much, my wife and children know so much about air pressure now"

"It's done now. I always compare myself to the greats and I am just glad to be in the company of those guys. To get up there and do that... to put yourself on the line takes a lot of courage and it's a mental game as much as anything."

Asked where it ranks, he adds: "It tops it off. To do everything and come here as an old man, I had such great memories here as a kid and to come here... It's memorable."

On the crowd, he says: "It's so difficult to block the noise out. They put a playlist of music together that I had to okay and I couldn't hear anything.

"I thank everyone for coming and putting their hands in their pocket."

Additional reporting from PA