Cycling great Bradley Wiggins admits cocaine addiction after retiring
Sir Bradley Wiggins has revealed that Lance Armstrong reached out to help during his recovery from being a 'functioning addict' who did 'a s***load of cocaine'.
Wiggins, 45, has opened up on the extent of his self-harm post-retirement in his new book, The Chain, and in an interview with the Observer has revealed his children feared he would kill himself until he quit using cocaine a year ago.
Wiggins, who became the first British rider to win the Tour de France in 2012, struggled to cope with his sudden fame. He went on to open the London Games that summer, where he also won the gold medal in the time trial, resulting in him being named BBC Sports Personality of the Year before he was knighted in 2013.
However, after claiming a fifth Olympic gold medal on the track in Rio de Janeiro, Wiggins struggled with his mental health, which only worsened when Russian hackers leaked his medical information in 2016, revealing his trade team (Sky) had applied for Therapeutic Use Exemptions for powerful corticosteroids before some of the biggest races of his career, including the 2012 Tour. Wiggins always denied cheating, insisting the drugs were to treat pollen allergies.
Questions were also asked in Parliament about a 'Jiffy bag' allegedly sent to him after one race, and the possible blurring of ethical lines in Team Sky's use of medicines. Wiggins' health spiralled in retirement.
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