Dan Bigham to retire after world championships to focus on engineering role

Olympic silver medallist Dan Bigham will ride his final race for Great Britain at next month’s track world championships after taking on a new role as head of engineering for the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe road team.

The 32-year-old former Hour Record holder, a former world champion and two-time European champion, was part of the British squad that won team pursuit silver on the track at the Paris Olympics last month.

The aerodynamics expert revealed before the Games he was quitting his previous role as performance engineer with the Ineos Grenadiers amid frustration with senior management over the direction of the team, and his new role with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe was announced on Wednesday.

In the announcement, Bigham said: “For the past decade, I have balanced the life of an elite athlete with my passion for advancing the sport of cycling through engineering.

“Having achieved nearly everything I dreamed of on the bike, I am now ready to fully dedicate myself to supporting the next generation of winners.”

Bigham confirmed to the PA news agency that the world championships in Denmark, which take place from October 16-20, would be his last major event as a rider, although he plans to continue racing for his own Huub WattShop team on the domestic circuit when time allows.