Sir Bradley Wiggins won five Olympic gold medals during his career and became the first Brit to win Tour de France before retiring in 2016
Sir Bradley Wiggins is set to check into a rehabilitation facility for trauma counselling. After retiring from cycling in December 2016, the Tour de France champion and five-time Olympic gold medallist struggled with substance abuse.
He’s been open about his mental health in the past, admitting he had become a ‘functioning addict’. In a recent interview with The Times, Wiggins explained how his children, Isabella and Ben, who are part of the British Cycling set-up, had previously tried to get him help, having grown concerned.
In June 2024, the 45-year-old, who had reportedly built a £13m fortune at the peak of his fame, also filed for bankruptcy. A company owned by Wiggins was said to have debts totalling around £1m.
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During a talk at the Barbican in York on Wednesday, the former cyclist revealed that he will be jetting off to the United States to check into a specialist clinic, with Lance Armstrong footing the bill.
“I still speak to him and see him,” said Wiggins, as quoted by The Sun. “I’m off to America on Friday. He’s paid for me to go and see a top trauma counselling clinic in Utah, so I’m looking forward to that.”
The Brit became friends with Armstrong before he retired, having competed in the same events during their careers. Wiggins added: “He’s offered me a role back in cycling, a platform which doesn’t involve me getting on a bike.”
Armstrong hired Wiggins to cover the Tour de France on ‘The Move’ podcast last year. The pair worked together over the summer, racking in thousands of views on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
The American was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France yellow jerseys after he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Despite this, Wiggins has always looked up to Armstrong.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live in the summer, the Brit said: “He’s been a great strength to me and a great inspiration to me, and it’s on a human level. Lance has been very, very good to me.
“That’s not something everyone wants to hear because people only like to hear the bad stuff. You can only take someone how they treat you and Lance has been a source of inspiration to me and a constant source of help towards me and is one of the main factors why I’m in this position I am today mentally and physically, so, I’m indebted to him for that.”
In his interview with the BBC, Wiggins claimed that he regrets not opening up sooner. He said: “We are all humans at the end of the day, and it is a human story, and I’ve had lots of events in my life that informed the problems I had in my life post-cycling.
“I’d never had therapy or counselling during my time as a cyclist because you’re perceived as a cyclist – or certainly when you’re an Olympic champion or the Tour de France winner – to be incredibly mentally strong.”
Wiggins won Olympic gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2016. He also won the road time trial at the Olympics in London 2012, just two weeks after winning the Tour de France.
“I was one for not taking on help as well or asking for help,” the Brit added. “I’m never going to make the same mistake twice, so I’ve sort of vowed that to myself. I’ve learned from the past.
“I’m coming up to 10 years to retirement and I knew nothing else other than cycling really, and having everything done for you on a daily basis. It took me a long time to adapt to normal life, as it were, and all the things that contribute to keeping me in a steady place.”
