SIR BRADLEY WIGGINS has admitted his children feared for his life as he spiralled into an all-consuming cocaine addiction.
The Team GB hero retired from cycling in December 2016 after a glittering career.
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Wiggins won five Olympic gold medals and was the first ever Brit to win the Tour de France.
But after retirement, the 45-year-old admits he became a “functioning cocaine addict” as he struggled to adapt to life away from the saddle.
In an excerpt from his new autobiography, Wiggins told The Observer: “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.
“I had a real problem and my kids were actually going to put me in rehab at one point. I’ve never spoken about that.
“I really was walking a tightrope. There were times when my son was worried I was going to end up dead in the morning.”
Wiggins is now twelve months sober and attends regular therapy sessions.
He has also received treatment in the US after former cyclist Lance Armstrong offered to pay.
Wiggins was left bankrupt and homeless as his debts spiralled to £2million last year.
His 20-year-old son Ben is embarking on his own career in cycling.
And the Team GB hero admits his addiction issues and mountains of debt put a huge toll on his family.
Wiggins continued: “They wouldn’t hear from me for days on end.
“I can talk about these things candidly now. There was an element of me living a lie, in not talking about it.
“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.”
Wiggins revealed in 2022 that he had been allegedly sexually abused by his coach when he was just 13.
I’m a lot more at peace with myself now which is a really big thing
Bradley Wiggins
The 45-year-old claimed he was sexually assaulted over a three-year period between the ages of 13 and 16 by a 72-year-old coach.
Wiggins continued: “My addiction was a way of easing that pain that I lived with.
“I’m still figuring a lot of this out but what I have got is a lot more control of myself and my triggers.
“I’m a lot more at peace with myself now which is a really big thing.”
Wiggins is slowly starting to fall back in love with cycling again after stepping away from the sport almost a decade ago.
But he admits even getting back on a bike can bring back old trauma.
He told Cycling Weekly: “Whenever I get on my bike, it reminds me of being 13 years old and how unhappy I was at 13.
“But my escapism was being on my bike.
“It’s sort of given me that same feeling again now.
“I’ve always viewed it from the negative side with what came with my career, and what happened at the end of my career, whereas now I’m seeing it for what it is.”
