Team Wiggins release Hour infographic - but Sky not impressed at "blatant rip-off"

With a fortnight to go until Sir Bradley Wiggins attempts the UCI Hour record at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London, Team Wiggins has released an infographic charting the history of one of the hardest feats in cycling. But Team Sky, which Wiggins rode for until last month, aren’t happy about it, pointing out how similar it is to their own infographics.

With Team Wiggins sharing many of the same sponsors as the WorldTour outfit – Pinarello, Rapha, Jaguar, and Sky itself – some might assume that they were the work of the same designer, and that the Hour record infographic was meant to be similar in style to earlier Team Sky ones.

Not so, says Nick Howes, digital manager at Team Sky, who described it as a “blatant rip-off” when he tweeted the two infographics side by side earlier today.

I've never seen a more blatant rip off of Team Sky Infographics than this from @OfficialWIGGINS! #SpotTheDifference pic.twitter.com/ezve3vQh7V

— Nick Howes (@TeamSkyNick) May 26, 2015

Here they are so you can judge for yourself.

Granted, there are only so many ways you can present this type of information, but Howes does seem to have a point. Both have a dark background, with text in colours mainly based on the respective teams’ kit, plus a splash of pink and the Italian tricolore flag for Sky.

Both use a similar font and style of graphics, and the positioning of the title at bottom right and team logo, bottom right, is identical.

Scott O’Raw of Velocast was among those who were surprised at Howes’ tweet, with the Team Sky staff member explaining his opinion to him.

@velocast @OfficialWIGGINS nope, absolutely not. We worked hard on those as well. Poor, poor form

— Nick Howes (@TeamSkyNick) May 26, 2015

Not everyone had a problem with it, however.

@TeamSkyNick @OfficialWIGGINS Hardly a unique idea, putting info into a collage! Given what Wiggo gave to @TeamSky you shd be happy to share

— Linda Billett (@Thehenlady) May 26, 2015

The Hour record is currently 52.937km and is held by Alex Dowsett of Movistar, who set it at the start of this month in Manchester.

Wiggins’ attempt on it takes place on Sunday 7 June and will be broadcast live by Sky Sports from 6pm-8pm – including free on its YouTube channel – with the ride itself starting at 6.30pm.