Sir Bradley Wiggins, Britain’s first Tour de France winner, has revealed how years as a functioning cocaine addict post-retirement left him fearing for his life.
The 45-year-old five-time Olympic goal medallist outlined in his unflinching autobiography, The Chain, the extent to which he descended into debt and addition after retiring from cycling in 2016.
“There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning,” said father-of-two Wiggins. “I was a functioning addict. People wouldn’t realise. I was high most of the time for many years.”
In his autobiography, which will be published later this year, Wiggins journeys through his childhood trauma, turbulent cycling career and subsequent cocaine addiction and financial struggles.
Wiggins revealed he quit his cocaine addiction a year ago without any external assistance.
Frankly outlining the extent of his usage, he said: “I was doing s***loads of cocaine. I had a really bad problem. My kids were going to put me in rehab. I was walking a tightrope.
“I realised I had a huge problem. I had to stop. I’m lucky to be here. I was a victim of all my own choices, for many years.
“I already had a lot of self-hatred, but I was amplifying it. It was a form of self-harm and self-sabotage. It was not the person I wanted to be. I realised I was hurting a lot of people around me.”
Wiggins is said to have amassed millions after winning five Olympic golds between 2004 and 2016 and becoming the first British man to win the Tour de France in 2012.
However, a company controlled by Wiggins was reported to have £1m of debt, leading to his bankruptcy in June 2024 after a failed individual voluntary agreement.
Wiggins reportedly considered selling his Olympic medals due to the severity of his financial issues.
In 2022, Wiggins revealed he had been sexually groomed by a former coach when he was 13 years old.
Wiggins revealed he quit his cocaine addiction a year ago without any external assistance but was receiving support through his recovery from Lance Armstrong.
The disgraced cyclist, who admitted to extensive doping offences in 2013, helped his former rival, 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, overcome addictions of his own and is now offering support to Wiggins.
Wiggins revealed Armstrong had been “worried about me for a long time”.
He added: “He’d been through a similar thing with Jan. They’d try and get hold of me, but couldn’t find where I was. My son speaks to Lance a lot. He’d ask my son, ‘How’s your Dad?’ Ben would say, ‘I’ve not heard from him for a couple of weeks, I know he’s living in a hotel’.
“They wouldn’t hear from me for days on end. I can talk about these things candidly now. There was an element of me living a lie, in not talking about it.
“There’s no middle ground for me. I can’t just have a glass of wine. If I have a glass of wine, then I’m buying drugs. My proclivity to addiction was easing the pain that I lived with.”
