Bradley Wiggins' drug addiction had son fearing his death as he was 'high most of the time'
Bradley Wiggins' drug addiction had son fearing his death as he was 'high most of the time'
Sir Bradley Wiggins is one of the greatest Olympians in British history, but the cycling legend endured a difficult period where he was battling an addiction to drugs
Sir Bradley Wiggins admitted his now 20-year-old son Ben's fears over his potential death were valid
(Image: 2018 Getty Images )
Sir Bradley Wiggins has admitted that his drug addiction was so bad, his own son thought he may one day discover him dead.
Wiggins, 45, has recently opened up about his previous reliance on cocaine in the years after his retirement from competitive cycling. The Tour de France winner got off the saddle for good in December 2016, having won five Olympic gold medals, eight world championships across multiple events, and many more honours.
In the years after, he entered a dark period that saw him become hooked on the drug. As well as his addiction, he has also opened up about his father's jealousy and the time he was groomed by his cycling coach when he was just a child, as well as his bankruptcy declaration in June 2024.
Having spoken about those issues, Wiggins delved into the depths he reached during his addiction. Via the Observer, he said: "There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning. I was a functioning addict. People wouldn't realise - I was high most of the time for many years.
"I was doing s***loads of cocaine. My kids were going to put me in rehab. I was walking a tightrope. I already had a lot of self-hatred, but I was amplifying it.
"It was a form of self-harm and self-sabotage. I was not the person I wanted to be, and I realised I was hurting a lot of people around me.'
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He added: "I realised I had a huge problem. I had to stop. I'm lucky to be here. I already had a lot of self-hatred, but I was amplifying it. It was a form of self-harm and self-sabotage. It was not the person I wanted to be. I realised I was hurting a lot of people around me.
Wiggins has opened up about the difficulties he has gone through
(Image: Getty Images For The Cambridge Union )
"There's no middle ground for me. I can't just have a glass of wine - if I have a glass of wine, then I'm buying drugs. My proclivity to addiction was easing the pain that I lived with."
At one stage, Wiggins boasted a net worth of more than £13million. However, a company understood to be under his control reported debts that totalled £1m.
When he failed to pay back the money via an individual voluntary agreement (IVA), he was declared bankrupt. After divorcing his wife in 2020, his lawyer, Alan Sellers, claimed the cycling legend was "sofa surfing" and did not have a permanent address.
Wiggins won five Olympic gold medals
(Image: Photo by Tim de Waele/Corbis via Getty Images )
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Wiggins would go on to accept financial help and support from disgraced cycling drug cheat Lance Armstrong. In March, Wiggins told the Telegraph: "I've really got to know him over the past eight years, and he has been there for me in recent times. He packed me off to this extensive therapy centre, paid for it all.
"He had a very similar upbringing to me – a fatherless upbringing. 'You can't will this stuff away,' he told me. 'You have to sort it out.' On the human side, he has been very good for me.'
He added: "You always have to put this disclaimer in with Lance, 'It's not to condone what he did.' Yeah, he took drugs and all that. That's a different part of it, very polarising. It's an open wound in cycling. But in terms of me being here, being alive, he has really helped."
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