Felix
Former Tour De France winner, Sir Bradley Wiggins opened up about sexual grooming at a young age to Men’s Health UK magazine; trying to understand his relationship with his father
Due to a tense relationship with his stepfather, the 2012 Tour de France champion and five-time Olympic gold medalist stated he didn’t feel he could speak up at the time. Wiggins stated in an interview with Men’s Health UK magazine about his allegations:
“I was groomed by a coach when I was younger – I was about 13 – and I never fully accepted that.“
When asked about sexual grooming, Wiggins said “Yes. It all impacted me as an adult…I buried it. My stepfather was quite violent to me, he used to call me a f****t 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.“
Wiggins 41, had previously spoken about his traumatic past which reflected on his mental state, making him a victim of depression at a young age. He claimed he had spent most of his life trying to understand his father, Australian rider Gary Wiggins, who abandoned his family when Bradley was a child and died in 2008 after a brawl at a house party.
“It was definitely to do with my dad,” Wiggins said when asked what he had tried to run from in his life.
“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 a lot of amphetamines and (sports) drugs back then.“
Wiggins achieved the peak of his sport in 2012, when he won the Tour de France for the first time as the first British rider, followed by Olympic gold in the time trial in London a few days later. Wiggins said 2012 was the year he quit enjoying professional cycling, despite winning the world time trial in 2014 and a third Olympic team pursuing gold in 2016.
“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.
But Wiggins added that he has now found a way to manage his mental health.
“I have to have a routine,” he said. “Training every day, it’s important. Not drinking too much…with my depression, if I’m not looking after myself it manifests more like a mania.
“I always thought of depression as taking you to a dark room in a stoop. I try to be funnier and end up being shocking and contentious.“
