Brit helped Denmark to smash world records

Huub-Wattbike aerodynamicist says it’s “scary” how fast the Danish team can still go

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At the heart of the Danish team pursuit team’s obliteration of successive world records at the Track World Championships last week was a British aerodynamicist.

“I don’t know if I can say any names, but it’s a guy from Great Britain and it’s a Danish guy,” said Danish rider Fredrik Madsen after they’d lowered the bar by nearly three-anda-half seconds in 24 hours.

The “Danish guy” is Casper Folsach, who won bronze in the team pursuit at the Rio Olympics but developed heart problems last season that meant he had to stop riding.

The “guy from Great Britain” may be familiar to regular readers of Cycling Weekly as it is Dan Bigham, rider and aerodynamicist with the Derby-based Huub-Wattbike track team.

That team has made waves on the track racing scene with their unusual strategies and approach to aerodynamics and won a round of the World Cup last season. However, with the UCI changing the rule on World Cup participation to exclude trade teams, Bigham, who previously worked for the Mercedes Formula 1 team, found himself with nowhere to ride after the end of the 2019-20 season.