Sir Bradley Wiggins wants to break hour track record in London

Sir Bradley Wiggins recently left Team Sky to return to the track

Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins intends to put cycling's iconic hour track record "out of reach" when he rides in London on 7 June.

British rider Alex Dowsett, 26, set a new record of 52.937km (32.893 miles) in Manchester on Saturday.

Britain's first Tour de France winner Wiggins will bid to smash that time at the Olympic Velodrome next month.

"It sounds a bit horrible to say, but I think I could break the record tomorrow," Wiggins told The Times.

"But I don't just want to break it, I want to put it right up there, as far out of reach as I can," added the 35-year-old, who recently left Team Sky to return to the track.

Wiggins believes he can add two kilometres to Commonwealth time-trial champion Dowsett's mark at the Manchester Velodrome.

"I've got 55km in my head and I believe that's realistic," said the seven-time Olympic medallist. "And I think if I do that it will stand for 20 years."

The hour record has been broken by four riders in the last eight months and Wiggins believes his Grand Tour experience with Team Sky will set him in good stead for the task - which he has previously said he would tackle "only once".

"I don't see it as being any harder than climbing the Ventoux to save fourth place in the Tour de France," he said. "I can't see it being any harder than keeping concentration for three weeks to win the Tour, or riding around Hampton Court with the weight of expectation to win Olympic gold."