Britain’s Wiggins opens up about cocaine addiction

Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins said he became addicted to cocaine after his cycling career and was “lucky to be here” after getting sober a year ago.

Wiggins, who retired from the sport in 2016, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France in 2012 and collected a then-British record eight Olympic medals, including gold in the time trial at the 2012 London Games.

In an interview with the Observer published on Tuesday, the 45-year-old spoke about how his drug use had affected his family.

“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,” Wiggins said.

“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.”

Wiggins also revealed that former cycling champion Lance Armstrong, who was involved in a doping scandal that led to him being stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles, had been helping him, adding: “My son speaks to Lance a lot.

“He’d ask my son, ‘How’s your Dad?’ Ben would say, ‘I’ve not heard from him for a couple of weeks, I know he’s living in a hotel’. They wouldn’t hear from me for days on end. I can talk about these things candidly now.”

In December last year, Wiggins said Armstrong had offered to fund his therapy for mental health issues.