Sir Bradley Wiggins: Rider Profile
BRADLEY WIGGINS
Date of birth: 28/04/1980
From: Born in Ghent, grew up in London
Team: Team Wiggins
Previous teams: Team Wiggins (2015-2016); Team Sky (2010-2015); Garmin-Transitions (2009); High Road/Columbia (2008); Cofidis (2006-2007), Crédit Agricole (2004-2005), Francaise des Jeux (2002-2003), Linda McCartney (2001)
Bradley Wiggins career profile
Born in Ghent, Bradley Wiggins grew up in London racing at the Herne Hill track from a young age. Wiggins' has focused predominantly on the track throughout his career, with his major breakthrough coming at the age of 18, winning the World junior pursuit title.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Wiggins went on to take a bronze at the Sydney Olympics and turned professional on the road with the now defunct Linda McCartney team. Since turning professional, Bradley has taken several time trial wins on the road and has turned into somewhat of a prologue specialist, although was beaten by a flying Fabian Cancellara at the 2007 Tour de France prologue on home soil in London. At Athens, Bradley became the first athlete for forty years to win three medals at one Olympics and almost repeated the same feat in Beijing in 2008, winning two gold medals in the individual and team pursuit.
After the Beijing Olympics, Wiggins released his autobiography documenting his hitherto unknown battle with alcohol addiction after the Athens Olympics in 2004.
In 2009, Wiggins signed for the vehemently anti-doping Garmin-Slipstream team and his concentration returned to road riding after focusing his entire 2008 season on the Olympics.
After putting in a solid performance in the 2009 Giro d'Italia, Wiggins turned his attention to the Tour de France. His ride in the Tour was nothing short of stunning, finishing fourth overall behind Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck and Lance Armstrong. The result was later changed after Armstrong's disqualification for doping, moving Wiggins up to third.
As it turned out, Wiggins exceeded the long-standing British record held by Robert Millar, who came fourth in 1984. It opened a whole new chapter in Wiggins' career.
After months of speculation, Team Sky unveiled it had signed Wiggins from Garmin-Transitions in December 2009.
However, after competing in a difficult Giro d'Italia, Wiggins never found the form from 2009, and subsequently struggled in the Tour de France. The then British Time Trial Champion, Wiggins wrote a book entitled "On Tour" to record his feelings throughout the 2010 race.
In 2011, Wiggins started his road season strongly after a gold-medal winning ride as part of the British team pursuit quartet at the Manchester round of the Track World Cup. He placed third overall at Paris-Nice, coming runner-up in the individual time trial stage behind eventual overall winner Tony Martin.
The best was yet to come, as Wiggins rode strongly throughout the Critérium du Dauphiné to take the overall win - his biggest road victory to date.
His 2011 Tour de France ended in disaster after crashing out with a broken collarbone. Recovering quickly, Wiggins rode the Vuelta a Espana where he finished third overall behind winner Juan Jose Cobo and British Sky team-mate Chris Froome.
Wiggins crowned an eventful season by winning the silver medal in the 2011 World Championship time trial behind German Tony Martin.
Wiggins took one of the biggest victories of his career in March 2012, winning the final uphill time trial stage of Paris-Nice to win the race overall. Wiggins won the Tour de Romandie in similar fashion, taking two stages - one of them in a sprint finish - and the overall. A successful defence of the Criterium du Dauphine followed, putting Wiggins as the front-runner for the 2012 Tour win.
After a second place in the 2012 Tour's opening prologue, Wiggins successfully avoided injury and time loss in the frantic first week. Then, on the opening mountain stage, Sky set a blistering tempo up the final climb to La Planche des Belles Filles. Wiggins put himself into the race lead - his first Tour yellow jersey - with team-mate Chris Froome winning the stage.
Wiggins then won the race's first long individual time trial, his first Tour stage win, followed by another stage win in second time trial on his way to becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France overall.
Wiggins won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in December 2012. The result was decided by public vote. Wiggins was awarded a knighthood by the Queen in the 2013 New Year Honours.
In May 2013, Wiggins started the Giro d'Italia as runaway favourite for the overall win. However, he endured a torrid race which saw him crashing on a wet descent and then withdraw with a chest infection. He subsequently missed the Tour de France due to a knee injury.
Despite winning the 2014 Tour of California, Wiggins was controversially passed over for the Tour de France when it started in Yorkshire. He then re-focussed for the time trial world championships in September, which he won with a comfortable margin over defending champion Tony Martin.
Wiggins left Team Sky in April 2015 after competing in Paris-Roubaix. He joined British-based Team Wiggins, and set a new UCI Hour Record of 54.526km in June before embarking on his aim of riding in the team pursuit for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
At the Games, which proved to be Wiggins' last, he was part of the British quartet that won gold, setting a then world record of 3:50.265. The title made Wiggins Britain's most decorated Olympian at the time, before Jason Kenny took over the accolade in 2021.
Bradley Wiggins results
2016
Olympic champion; team pursuit
World champion; Madison
2015
Three Days of De Panne; stage 3b (ITT)
UCI Hour Record (54.526km)
European champion; team pursuit
2014
Tour of California; stage two (ITT)
Tour of California; overall
British time trial national champion
Tour of Britain; stage 8a (ITT)
World champion; time trial
2013
Tour of Poland; stage seven (ITT)
Tour of Britain; stage three (ITT)
Tour of Britain; overall
2012
Tour of the Algarve; stage five ITT
Paris-Nice; stage eight ITT
Paris-Nice; points classification
Paris-Nice; overall
Tour de Romandie; stage one
Tour de Romandie; stage five
Tour de Romandie; overall
Criterium du Dauphine; stage 4 ITT
Criterium du Dauphine; overall
Tour de France; stage nine ITT
Tour de France; stage 19 ITT
Tour de France overall
Olympic champion; time trial
2011
Track World Cup, Manchester, team pursuit
National 10-mile time trial
Bayern Rundfahrt; stage four ITT
Critérium du Dauphiné, overall
National road race champion
2010
Giro d'Italia; stage one ITT
National time trial champion
2009
Three Days of De Panne; stage 3b
Tour of Qatar; stage one (TTT)
Jayco Herald Sun Tour; stage five ITT
Jayco Herald Sun Tour; overall
Beaumont Trophy
National time trial champion
2008
World champion, individual pursuit
World champion, Madison
Olympic champion, individual pursuit
Olympic champion, team pursuit
2007
Dauphiné Libéré; prologue
Quatre Jours de Dunkirk; stage one
Tour du Poitou-Charentes et de la Vienne; stage four
Duo Normand
World champion, team pursuit
World champion, individual pursuit
2005
Circuit de Lorraine; stage two
Tour de l'Avenir; stage eight
2004
Olympic champion, individual pursuit
2003
Tour de l'Avenir; stage one
World champion, team pursuit
Ghent six-day (with Matthew Gilmore)
RELATED LINKS
Cycling Weekly's Rider Profiles: Index
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