Former Hour Record holder Ole Ritter has suggested future contenders to make their bids before Bradley Wiggins, as he expects the Briton to set an impossible to beat distance.

Compating Wiggins’ performances in individual time trials with those of Jens Voigt and Mathias Brandle, Ritter hinted that the 34-year old Briton might set the bar incredibly high. Even though he considers the likes of Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara as almost equally strong contenders, the former Danish rider emphasized that a track experience of the Team Sky cyclist makes him a stronger candidate to write his name in history books for a longer period of time.

“They should do it before Wiggins does,” he told CyclingWeekly. “They should do it before Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin too. With Wiggins, those three will raise the record by a lot, but out of those three I think Wiggins will do the furthest because he is the best track rider.”

When asked to predict a distance for Wiggins, Ritter said: “Just look at the time he beats Voigt or Brändle by in a time trial of about an hour, and apply that time gap to distance on the track. I would say on average Wiggins has always been four minutes faster than Voigt or Brändle over one hour, so take how far will he travel in four minutes on the track and add that to the record now.”

“And maybe it will be more than the road time trial gap if Wiggins has all the time he needs to do the special training. Plus, because Wiggins is such a good track rider with great technique, and track technique plays a big part in the Hour Record, that will help him ride further,” Ritter said.