Sir Bradley Wiggins smashes world hour record

Sir Bradley Wiggins has claimed the world hour record, becoming the fifth cyclist to achieve the feat in the last nine months.

The 2012 Tour de France winner broke the record, set by fellow Briton Alex Dowsett in Manchester last month.

Wiggins started at a blistering pace and was almost 10 seconds ahead of Dowsett's mark inside the opening minutes as he tried to reach his target of 221 laps in front a packed crowd at London's Olympic Velodrome.

The Briton looked to be in pain in the latter stages but was able to stay above 54 km-per-hour average speed, which also kept him on course to break the record.

Buoyed on by 5,500 fans, Wiggins crossed the line having clocked 218 laps and beat Dowsett's record by 1.625km.