Sir Bradley Wiggins has revealed in a new autobiography that he was a “functioning cocaine addict” after he retired from professional cycling.
Wiggins, 45, retired from cycling in December 2016 after a storied career that saw him win five Olympic gold medals as well as becoming the first British champion of the Tour de France in 2012.
However, he has described the struggles he faced in the years afterwards.
“There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning,” Wiggins wrote in the book, The Chain, which is being serialised by The Observer.
“I was a functioning addict. People wouldn’t realise. I was high most of the time for many years.”
Wiggins added: “I was doing s—loads of cocaine. I had a really bad problem. My kids were going to put me in rehab. I was walking a tightrope.
“I realised I had a huge problem. I had to stop. I’m lucky to be here. I was a victim of all my own choices, for many years. 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.”
In April 2022, Wiggins revealed that he was sexually groomed by a coach when he was 13 years old.
Speaking in an interview with Men’s Health UK, Wiggins said he did not tell anyone about the abuse he received due to his difficult relationship with his stepfather and that it continued to impact his life into adulthood.
He has also previouisly spoken about his battle with depression, describing his period of unprecedented cycling success as “probably the unhappiest” period of his life.
