Sir Bradley Wiggins says he was sexually groomed by a coach as a child
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ByEurosport
Updated 19/04/2022 at 15:59 GMT
The 2012 Tour de France winner and Eurosport pundit has given a candid interview to Men's Health UK where he discusses abuse suffered as a child, his difficult relationship with both his father and stepfather, as well as his struggles coming to terms with fame, all of which have contributed to his depression and mental health issues.
Bradley Wiggins
Image credit: Getty Images
Sir Bradley Wiggins has said he was sexually groomed by a former coach when he was a child.
In an interview with Men’s Health UK, the 2012 Tour de France winner did not name the coach but admitted he struggled to accept what had happened, adding that a strained relationship with his stepfather caused him to "bury it".
"I was groomed by a coach when I was younger,” Wiggins revealed. “I was about 13 - and I never fully accepted that."
"Yes,” he added when asked if the grooming was sexual. “It all impacted me as an adult. I buried it.
“My stepfather was quite violent to me, he used to call me a f***** for wearing Lycra and stuff, so I didn't think I could tell him.”
"I was such a loner. I just wanted to get out of the environment. I became so insular. I was quite a strange teenager in many ways and I think the drive on the bike stemmed from adversity."
The 41-year-old was speaking to columnist Alastair Campbell and also spoke about his battles with depression and the impact of his relationship with his biological father.
Gary Wiggins, a cyclist himself, left the family when Bradley was 14 and died under mysterious circumstances following a party in 2008.
"It was definitely to do with my dad," he said.
"Never getting answers when he was murdered in 2008. He left us when I was little, so I met him for the first time when I was 18. We rekindled some kind of relationship but then we didn't speak for the last couple of years before he was murdered.
"He was my hero. I wanted to prove myself to him. He was a good cyclist - he could have been really good - but he was a wasted talent. He was an alcoholic, a manic depressive, quite violent and he took at lot of amphetamines and (sports) drugs back then."
As well as his Tour de France triumph, Wiggins also won five Olympic gold medals across four Games between 2004 and 2016.
However, despite his success, Wiggins confessed he found the attention that came with it difficult to deal with.
"After winning the Tour de France, then winning at the Olympics, life was never the same again," he said. "I was thrust into this fame and adulation that came with the success. I'm an introverted, private person.
"I didn't know who 'me' was, so I adopted a kind of veil - a sort of rock star veil. It wasn't really me.
“It was probably the unhappiest period of my life.
"Everything I did was about winning for other people, and the pressures that came with being the first British winner of the Tour. I really struggled with it."
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