Bradley Wiggins is embarking upon a degree in social work as he looks for a long term career post-cycling.
Taking the cover slot in the Big Issue magazine, Wiggins revealed in his interview that he felt "detached" from his career in cycling.
Speaking to to the magazine, Wiggins said: “I don’t give a s**t about my cycling career now... I don’t want to live off the back of it."
The 39-year-old proved to be a popular commentator on the 2019 Tour de France in his role with Eurosport, and says he enjoyed his role as a pundit - something he'll perhaps continue with his upcoming 'Bradley Wiggins’ An Evening With… UK tour', starting in September.
“It took me a while to find myself, redefine myself, and come back to cycling without an ego. So now I can do the TV job, but I’ve also enrolled to do an open university degree in social work. I want to help people," he said.
Wiggins, who grew up in Kilburn, had a difficult relationship with his father.
“Those horrific things I saw when I was growing up ... nothing can shock me now, and I want to use that mental toughness working as a social worker. And when people say, ‘Oh you’re that cyclist’, I’ll say: ‘No, that was a few years ago. I’m a social worker now’" he said.
"I live off of being me, and I’m happy in my own skin. I’ve gone full circle, I watch it as a fan now. I don’t expect to be recognised or anything," said the presenter of 'The Bradley Wiggins show' podcast.
Wiggins found himself surrounded by controversy in 2016 when it was revealed that a mysterious package had been mailed to him from British Cycling and Sky’s headquarters in Manchester, to give to the team on the final day of the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné.
Commenting on what he called a “malicious witch hunt”, he said "the fact that I’m back working in the sport is testament to the fact that I did nothing wrong.
"The people who are responsible for what happened are now on a charm offensive but people aren’t stupid. I’m not angry though, I’ll be involved with cycling a lot longer than those people, because I love it.”
