Former Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins has revealed that he became addicted to cocaine in the years after retiring from professional cycling.
Wiggins (45) spoke in an interview with the Observer about the extent of his addiction, which began after he retired from the sport in 2016, stating that his family members feared for his life.
"There were times when my son thought he would find me dead in the morning. I was a functional addict. People couldn't tell - I was under the influence most of the time, for years," Wiggins said, as reported by the BBC.
Wiggins won gold medals at the Athens, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro Olympics, as well as the road time trial in London in 2012, just two weeks after becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
After retiring, he spoke of his father's jealousy, as well as being abused by a coach as a child. In June 2024, Wiggins also declared bankruptcy.
He revealed that Lance Armstrong, the famous American cyclist who lost seven Tour de France titles due to doping, helped him in his recovery. Armstrong reportedly offered to pay for Wiggins' treatment.
"He's taken care of me for years. He talks a lot to my son Ben, who's also a professional cyclist, about me," Wiggins said.
Speaking about his addiction, which he broke last year, Wiggins said:
"I realized I had a huge problem. I had to stop. I'm happy I'm still here."
"I already had a lot of self-loathing, but I was just amplifying it. It was a form of self-harm and self-sabotage. I wasn't the person I wanted to be. I was hurting a lot of people around me," he added.
"There's no middle ground for me. I can't have just one glass of wine, if I do, I immediately get drugs. My addiction served to numb the pain I was living with," Wiggins said.
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