Bradley Wiggins poised to ink multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Skoda UK
Three-year deal in the offing for Sir Bradley Wiggins's team and brands

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Sir Bradley Wiggins is on the verge of striking a sponsorship deal with Skoda UK that could pour millions of pounds into his own brands and his eponymous team over the next three years, Cycling Weekly can reveal.
A spokesperson for Skoda UK confirmed the brand was in “advanced discussions” with Wiggins and his commercial partner company XIX Entertainment but that it had yet to be signed.
Though he added he the company hoped to complete something before Christmas.
A separate source said the car brand, owned by the German Volkswagen Group, will appear on the Team Wiggins jersey and provide vehicles for the squad.
They said the deal is also set to entail personal endorsements, which will see Wiggins appear in adverts for Skoda over the three-year period.
Skoda has long had an association with cycling providing vehicles and sponsorship to multiple races, notably the Tour de France.
The Wiggins team has been sponsored by Sky but that deal comes to end at the end of 2016, and it emerged in July that Sky had decided this year not to renew it.
During 2016 Team Wiggins partnered with Hyundai for its vehicles.
CW understands that the deal with Skoda has taken Wiggins and his commercial partner company XIX Entertainment, months to broker.
The Skoda UK deal will be welcome good news to Wiggins after a tumultuous couple of months in which he has found his legacy in the sport called into question following revelations about a series of TUEs for banned medications before big races, and allegations of a mystery package being delivered to the team in France straight after his Critérium du Dauphiné win in 2011.
>>> Bradley Wiggins ‘to be cleared’ after investigation into medical package
However, those scandals seem to have done little to dent Wiggins’s popularity as sold-out crowds turned up to see what was billed as his last race at the Ghent Six Day last month.
Skoda’s parent company Volkswagen has also been involved in scandal in recent years.
The company is still reeling from the revelation that it used software to cheat diesel emissions tests in millions of cars worldwide.
It has already paid out $15m (£11.9m) to authorities in the US and may yet face heavy sanctions in other countries.
A group of its own shareholders are currently seeking €8.2bn (£7bn) in damages after the company’s share price fell following the emergence of the scandal.
Wiggins and XIX Entertainment declined to comment.
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
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.
-
-
E-bike rebates: Are you taking advantage of your city or state programs?
A nation-wide rebate program could be coming soon but here’s how to save on an e-bike purchase now
By Charles Miller Published
-
Gallery: The cyclocross race that existed before gravel was cool
The annual Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross race traverses the Yorkshire Dales annually - here's our gallery from Britain's toughest race
By Michelle Arthurs-Brennan Published
-
La Planche des Belles Filles: will today's Tour de France climb be make or break?
Primož Roglič may be looking to salvage his Tour de France by exorcising his 2020 demons on the brutal climb
By Tom Thewlis Last updated
-
'Dismiss Geraint Thomas at your peril' — Bradley Wiggins sees Welshman as Tour de France 'underdog'
Ineos Grenadiers rider will head to Tour off the back of Tour de Suisse win
By Adam Becket Published
-
Bradley Wiggins: It would be a 'real shame' if Mark Cavendish wasn't at the Tour de France
Cavendish's former teammate and Madison partner thinks it would be "crazy" not to pick him
By Adam Becket Published
-
Bradley Wiggins: Ineos Grenadiers victory at Paris-Roubaix was 'typical Dave Brailsford'
Former Tour de France winner spent the day on a motorbike covering the race
By Adam Becket Published
-
How would Bradley Wiggins beat Tadej Pogačar? 'Buy him, and send him to the Giro'
Former Tour de France winner admits he would have struggled against a talent like Pogačar
By Adam Becket Published
-
Sir Bradley Wiggins: I hope Mark Cavendish gets a just reward - it’s the result of a lot of sacrifice
Wiggins celebrates the return to winning ways for his former team-mate
By Alex Ballinger Published
-
‘He has that no nonsense attitude’: Sir Bradley Wiggins backs Simon Yates to win the Giro d’Italia 2021
Will Yates become the third Brit to win the Italian Grand Tour?
By Alex Ballinger Last updated
-
Bradley Wiggins says Chris Froome ‘warrants a bit more respect’
Bradley Wiggins says Chris Froome “warrants a bit more respect” as he continues his comeback from career-threatening injuries.
By Alex Ballinger Published