Bradley Wiggins: 'I was Olympic champion and couldn't pay the mortgage'
Bradley Wiggins gives candid interview on BBC's Desert Island Discs, where he talks about his upbringing and experiences as an Olympic and Tour de France champion
Sir Bradley Wiggins was the guest on the BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on Sunday, and as well as selecting the music that he would take with him if he found himself marooned and alone on a remote island, he gave a candid interview with host Kirsty Young.
Wiggins talked about his life as a child, and various parts of his highly successful career on the track and road that has also been peppered with low moments. He admitted during the interview that he felt lost after his success at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, where he won individual pursuit gold and silver and bronze medals in the team pursuit and Madison.
"At that age, when you're a kid, you just want fame and money," Wiggins told Young. "You think that people are going to knock the door down, writing cheques out for a couple of million to you, and that didn't happen, and we still couldn't pay the mortgage."
"I had this incredible guilt that I was Olympic champion and that I wasn't supporting the family. So I got a slight bit of depression about the whole thing really. It didn't live up to the expectation of what I assumed winning Olympic gold was going to be about."
>>> Brailsford confident Bradley Wiggins will claim Hour Record
Wiggins said that the birth of his son focussed his attention on providing for his family, and also of his feeling towards his own father, Gary. Wiggins said that his father, an Australian track cyclist who had moved to Europe to find success, was known as 'Doc' for supplying other riders with performance-enhancing drugs, notably amphetamines.
"He did a bit of everything. In those days it was amphetamines and speed. He was a user and used to sell it as well.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"My mum's got some great stories about the people that used to come through our apartment door when I was a baby to buy stuff off my dad, who are now banging the drum saying 'Oh no, I didn't do anything', which is quite funny."
Wiggins also confirmed the story that his father used his nappies to smuggle drugs through customs when he was a baby. His father left Wiggins and his mother when he was very young, but evidently left a mark. Wiggins' mother moved back in with her parents, and provided financial and emotional support to the young cyclist as he started out in his career.
Wiggins gave a straight 'no' when asked by Young whether he's ever been tempted to take drugs during his cycling career.
Throughout the interview, well-known music fan Wiggins picked out the eight songs he would take to a desert island:
'The Queen is Dead' The Smiths
'I am the Resurrection' The Stone Roses
'That's What I Like' Chas and Dave
'Reasons to be Cheerful Part Three' Ian Dury and the Blockheads
'Rock n Roll Star' Oasis
'Sympathy for the Devil' The Rolling Stones
'Cosmic Dancer' T Rex
'Sound and Vision' David Bowie
Wiggins' next target is an attempt on the Hour Record in June.
You can listen to the Desert Island Discs with Bradley Wiggins on BBC's iPlayer.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
-
My 10-mile TT power hovers between 375 and 382 watts: I can’t improve by training harder, the only way to go faster is to go shopping
CW's columnist is stuck in a threshold rut
By Michael Hutchinson Published
-
I'm not into cake stops - but - I made an exception to rate five British delicacies in one ride
Of all the cakes named after places in the north-west of England, which is the tastiest? Simon Warren sets out to sample them all in a single epic ride
By Simon Warren Published
-
'Lance has helped me a lot in recent years' - Armstrong offered to pay for Bradley Wiggins' therapy
2012 Tour de France winner says he is in the 'best place' he has been his whole life in interview
By Adam Becket Published
-
Claims against bankrupt Sir Bradley Wiggins’s estate double to £2m
Wiggins’s efforts to pursue money through the courts have been paused
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins to reunite on the bike to raise money for US hurricane relief
The British knights will be joined by Jan Ullrich at the Gran Fondo Hincapie next week
By Adam Becket Published
-
Bradley Wiggins 'a little bit nervous' as he returns to cycling
Former Tour de France winner set to ride bike again for first time in almost three years
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'I should have paid more attention to my financial affairs' - Bradley Wiggins opens up about bankruptcy
Former Tour de France winner was declared bankrupt in June
By Adam Becket Published
-
Bradley Wiggins: 'I was putting myself in some situations where someone would have found me dead in the morning'
Former Tour de France winner and Olympic champion reveals further details about his mental health struggles and suggests 2022 interview potentially saved his life
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Bradley Wiggins joins Lance Armstrong for Tour de France podcast
The former Tour de France winner will be appearing on The Move for the next week
By Adam Becket Published
-
Bradley Wiggins declared bankrupt - reports
The Tour de France winner was in an Individual Voluntary Arrangement since 2020
By Adam Becket Published