WTF Happened to Bradley Wiggins? | The First British Tour de France Winner and Olympic Hero

Sir Bradley Wiggins is one of the most successful British cyclists of all time a world champion on both the road and track as well as winning multiple Olympic gold medals and of course, winning the Tour de France in 2012. But what became of the man?
Follow us @thecyclingdane
Instagram: / thecyclingdane​
Facebook: / thecyclingdane8​
Twitter: / thecyclingdane
Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/01cFTZu...
Our new merchandise webshop:
teespring.com/en-GB/stores/th...

[@ccpbass2032]

How did you manage not to mention his hour record, beating the old one by 1.589 kilometres in 2015??

[@rasher331]

How did he not mention all the question marks about Team Sky and performance enhancements?

[@veronicasiegfried2712]

This was a great review on his career. It's a shame it didn't bring him as much joy as it did to the fans.

[@ITFNBiteBayKon]

Why did you miss out that Wiggins greatest driving force was from when he was 19 met his father for the first time who told him he'd not amount to anything. Pretty important really.

[@DavidJones-bl2yz]

He amounted to Britain's first drug enhanced robotic cyclist no wonder his father didn't want nothing to do with him any decent father would do the same 😮😮😮

[@purplemonkeydishwasher5269]

​@@DavidJones-bl2yzyou mean the father that abandoned him as a young child. You may want to choose your idols more carefully 😂😂

[@half_a_lager_arthur]

Wow. Classy comment. @@DavidJones-bl2yz

[@robertallardice8119]

@@DavidJones-bl2yz Gary Wiggins nickname “The Doc” wasn’t for nothing!

[@angrydoggy9170]

Was that the time he decided to resort to doping?

[@andylewis210]

OK so WTF did happen to him? Are you doing another video to answer the question posed in this one?

[@tonyb9735]

Feels like you glossed over the whole messy business of his rivalry with Chris Froome at team Sky.

[@leplessis8179]

Wiggo would never have won the Tour without the help of Froome: wonder if he had pad him his % yet?

[@tonyb9735]

@@leplessis8179 I didn't follow it that closely, but there seemed to be quite a lot of bitterness from both sides involved in the passing over of the team leadership.

[@myleswillis6938]

Jiffy- bags and laptops.

[@realshaoran4514]

@@leplessis8179 no one, and I mean, no one can win a ground tour alone without the team, no exception her. At the ends, who gets paid what and how much depends on what was written in the contracts of the riders and which position they held in the team, whether they followed the instructions from the DS etc. I cannot know but I bet that in Frommie's contract stated that Wiggo was team captain, as such he was paid for his contribution, so much so that he became the team leader for years to come. So don't feel too sorry for Froome.

[@SecwetGwiwer]

Pretty much the only thing we should be talking about is him getting Therapuetic Use Exemptions before every major win.

[@myleswillis6938]

What about missing laptops, testosterone patches, oh and Jiffi-bags.? Hmm

[@adodgygeeza]

Maybe you should look up the effects of kenalog. I've taken it plenty and at no point have I won the TDF. It could be used to cut weight in the off season (which wasn't illegal at the time) but even then that would be a little dangerous because you're just as likely to cut muscle. Using it in competition for that purpose would be potty. The only competitive benefit that it could possibly give you is that it might reduce soreness, it won't give a rider a single Watt more power and has a decent chance of actually reducing your power/endurance. People like David Millar who said was an effective doping agent were taking it as part of a "balanced diet" of anabolic steroids and EPO or other blood doping, these countered the side effects of kenalog and has the tangible benefits of improving muscle mass and aerobic capacity. All those things were made ineffective (you can still do them but not to the degree that they make much of an effect, this may be why rider performance is equalising) by the biological passport. The idea that Sky were US postal MK 2 is also for the birds. The argument is that a bunch of riders who pointedly didn't win when doping was very effective pre 2008 (suggesting they were clean) suddenly became the most proficient dopers once doping became significantly more difficult doesn't make sense. Especially in a era of whistleblowing and social media.

[@Daz555Daz]

Did he have TUEs for all his golds? Genuine question.

[@adodgygeeza]

@@Daz555Daz unlikely, also kenalog wouldn't have any benefit for a track cyclist (less need to cut weight and no multi day events) and hayfever wouldn't be an issue for a track cyclist so you wouldn't get the TUE anyway.

[@HkFinn83]

Nothing to see here, just a bunch of boomers and their weird drug obsession

[@AlexStavrinides]

Wtf? You missed out on the post cycling stories which is what I was expecting. There’s the hosting of commentary from the back of a moto; depth and detail he’s talked and explained about his mental health, imposter syndrome, depression, ultimately leading to the breaking of his marriage; there’s the recent financial crash of the Wiggo brand company and the legal woes that’ll entail. There’s so much more there that would have been important to discuss, especially the mental health topics on the climb down from the top of sporting success in an influencer world. Vicky Pendalton has discussed similar. Could have been done in a way of not digging dirt or accusations but of raising sports persons mental health pressures the mortals could identify with. This was a retrospective of his pro time, but fails at addressing “WTF happened to Brad Wiggins”

[@tonyshortland8812]

Alex, agreed just what I thought , click are it was!... Maybe he was found doing something? And given two options, (I have no proof). He came up too quick, and disappeared just as quick... Hope he finds peace though

[@paintingandtastingwithsimo1503]

Exactly. When's Part 2?

[@LordPopeye]

Really enjoyed this... great work team. But yeah I feel like some other important bits were left out.

[@trentvlak]

Sounds like the guy was looking for glory, achieved it, then realized that instead of achieving Superhero status, he was just another bloke doing a dumb job, like the rest of us. Respect, Sir Bradly.

[@NonFlyiingDutchman]

reminds me of a quote from radio DJ and TV presenter Chris Evans. He made millions selling Virgin radio then went off the rails and was seen drinking in pubs most days and when talking about it some years later said "he'd got to the top and realised there was nothing there"

[@itaybruck9671]

You didn't answer the question. What happened to him and what he is doing these days...

[@stealth1803]

he came up against Chris Froome ad that all she wrote

[@laszlozoltan5021]

he's busy destroying his body and his reputation

[@elialexander-tanner5784]

oo i've been waiting for this one!

[@bikerboy4944]

I used to see Bradley in my local supermarket in the evenings. I did chat to him on a number of occasions, he was always pleasant and seemed quite shy, he used to go into my friends bike shop too. A sad end to a stellar career. A nice guy.

[@JohnSmith-dn6fk]

What was in the Jiffy bag Brad🤷🏻‍♂️

[@myleswillis6938]

Maybe look on the laptop! Oh hang on.

[@myleswillis6938]

What are those patches ordered to the Manchester Velodrome. Oh hang on…. 😂

[@felixwagner3152]

I dont get how he didnt include this in the video

[@jontrackerjack]

A friend was cycling in the mountains in north Majorca when Bradley Wiggins breezed past on a gold bike. We have eaten meals in his favourite restaurant in Majorca called Tolos where lots of Bradley stuff is on the walls such as jerseys and bikes.

[@CreamyBone]

There's also an article in the Guardian that says: "...three intramuscular injections of triamcinolone before grand tours including the Tour de France in 2012"

[@simonwilton3546]

Oh yes, the Gaurdian…..

[@federicomurero]

Thanks for for sharing didn't know about his history of cycling. So fascinating to see how many important races he won. Unbelievable.

[@Patteh01]

aero sideburns

[@jamessoperDOTcom]

Omertà bs. How can you chart the career of Wiggins and not even mention the doping allegations made against him and Sky? A waste of 16mins.

[@dorydiavelone3531]

I think Wiggins is a wack sorry but he just seems angry and miserable!!

[@michealwalford2905]

Great rider..jiffys aside,i think the younger pros could take some learnings on what to say to the media..layed himself bare. And people think less of him now. He let his personal dramas overshadow his career. Shame,i loved wiggo for his vulnerabilitys.

[@coleorum]

Hour record?

[@michaelskinner3067]

Nicole Cooke was the first British rider to win the Tour de France actually.

[@chuckmac3994]

A truly great achievement, especially from a Asthmatic?

[@nelsonhibbert5267]

Isn't it strange how many pro cyclists are asthamtic.....

[@CelixFat]

He just needed those sideburns to win

[@peterpimmel5307]

They looked horrible tbh

[@monkimusic4813]

of his 'inhaler'....

[@bowwowrapha7790]

Vrad, the Inhaler!!

[@CelixFat]

@@bowwowrapha7790 😂

[@13opacus]

He brought a lot of character to a his era of cycling along with his obvious talent.

[@2wheelsrbest327]

How can you not mention the Jiffy bag !

[@dorydiavelone3531]

Wiggins seems to be one of those people who are never really happy !

[@two20john]

His 2012 palmares are enough for him to go down as one of the greatest riders ever. All the rest is just stuff.

[@ianw5119]

Hour record…?

[@roadracer1584]

Wiggo retired from pro cycling and got fat as he is entitled to do. He won the TdF and set the 1-hour record. What else do you have to prove as a professional cyclist?

[@marcusmaher-triskellionfil5158]

WTF happened to Bradley Wiggins? well he sold a book firstly on a lie about needles and TUE then it went downhill from there!

[@elialexander-tanner5784]

wow this is some major Wiggins worship. No doubt a great rider but you gotta mention the Fancy Bears leek and the murky Team Sky doping of this era

[@trentvlak]

for that you need the Cycling Highlights channel.

[@thomasreed49]

It would explain why he is now a little bit subdued about his achievements. The stigma will be with him all his life and beyond.

[@laszlozoltan5021]

@@thomasreed49 one can see then why he turned his back in disgust over the sport- clean or not, for him the crown will be forever tainted. Maybe he should see a shrink, or get back on a bike and just enjoy the ride.

[@52daytripper]

and jiffy bags

[@HkFinn83]

Cycling is a sport that uses drugs. Grow up or go watch lawn bowls. Hysterics about PEDs is so corny and boomer

[@joelenzi6985]

He disappeared due to the team sky TUEs fiasco. Marginal gains Indeed.

[@buddhaboy-]

Signed with team Z at the age of nine🔥😉✌

[@lazlo2511]

Iwas waiting for someone to make the French connection!😂

[@buddhaboy-]

… couldn’t work ronan pensec into the punchline🔥believe me -i tried🏆

[@White1404]

You forgot to mention that he was doped to the gills.

[@myleswillis6938]

Team sky didn’t perfect ‘an all new strategy’. We’ve seen it all before. Mainly with U.S Postal and Discovery. 😂

[@Favep]

What fall?

[@forsdykemontague1017]

Glad Wiggins won the Tour I remember thinking at the time Froome was better.

[@laszlozoltan5021]

so, the best man didnt win, yet you are still glad about that ?

[@forsdykemontague1017]

@@laszlozoltan5021 It’s the nature of cycling and the role of the domestique.

[@laszlozoltan5021]

@@forsdykemontague1017 one spends much of their life riding, training, pushing themselves only to give in, to surrender the moment the crown is in their grasp; only then to rue what could have been when they had the chance ? nah- a champion will take the crown they earned. Lemond, Ulrich (sorry, I stopped with floyd's miraculous recovery the day after he bonked)- those two guys if you listen to them now, full of excuses: that's the lesson. One may disappoint others, but a champion will not let himself down.

[@forsdykemontague1017]

@@laszlozoltan5021 I agree in toto, but in the Tour to which I refer, Froome was ordered to hold back and let Wiggins through. It’s well documented since and obvious at the time.

[@realshaoran4514]

@@laszlozoltan5021 I get what you mean, but that's a fairy tale. In an ideal world, you would be right. The truth is, professional cycling is like any other professional sport: business first, sport second. It's a brutal enterprise where a lot of money plays a huge roles and contracts dictate what you can do and what you can't do. You sign a contract with the team knowing exactly the terms and conditions, the position you have, your obligations, etc. In 2012, whether you like or not, Wiggo was that team captain and Frommie was his domestique. Like I said in another thread here, not first time that a domestique is stronger, won't be the last time either.

[@michealwhite1091]

Chris Froome happened essentially

[@Free_Ranger_CT110]

Don't forget the knighthood, Sir Bradley Wiggins CBE...

[@themelted4614]

Didnt he allegedly get inections for astma before every big win that he didnt mention having astma in his book ?

[@SecwetGwiwer]

Not allegedly, we know that he got a ‘Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) just before every major win (Legalised doping).

[@themelted4614]

@@SecwetGwiwer insecurirty on my part. Hey im not a fan of lance but he was stripped of titles. Cavs big win in paris also tainted.. went off the wheel game yrs ago EPO being the game changer

[@artsy38]

I reckon wiggins prob done everything, Lance, and the rest of them were doing. It's a dirty sport that's it

[@themelted4614]

@@artsy38 yep. Put me off pro cycling. Wigging should be stripped of titles. Also tainted wins for cav in paris..

[@myleswillis6938]

Jiffy-bags and laptops. So fishy

[@Daz555Daz]

He won everything and then retired.

[@glennoc8585]

Last interview with wiggo i saw had him dissing on cycling to the point that he said he doesn't follow competitive cycling now

[@user-nq9gz4xf7f]

I think its a brutal business. Look at what it did to Lance Armstrong. There is little joy in it it seems

[@joeshepherd6159]

Lack of personality springs to mind.

[@oneeleven9832]

Wasn’t he born in Belgium

[@nelsonhibbert5267]

Ghent.

[@brsmsic]

99% of pro cyclist will have trained assisted......so will always cause you problems with physical and mental health.....always looking over your shoulder.....

[@anthonykent9387]

He had an Australian father

[@jamessher6956]

Too much facial hair was definitely his downfall.

[@paulharrison8792]

To say Bradley hasn’t been seen and has become a recluse in Cycling Just isn’t true You obviously haven’t been watching GCN as he jumps on a motorbike and comments brilliantly on the Tour de France.

[@johnbrookshull]

Not done that for a few years now

[@jonm8423]

He also says he hates cycling now and doesn’t follow it

[@realshaoran4514]

He stopped doing that two years ago. Since then Phillip Gilbert and Jens Voigt do it on the men's races, Iris Slappendel on the women's races.

[@DavidStacey-tx7on]

Only so much doping will assist talent. He clearly pushed himself to new limits in 2011&12, saw what was coming and the risks he was taking and eased off

[@trentvlak]

my theory is that when a sus rider does exceptionally well he gets "the call" to dial it back. Such as Gilbert after his 2013 season.

[@stealth1803]

@@trentvlak No it was just a fact that froome was better.

[@larryt.atcycleitalia5786]

You made me laugh with talk about SKY's "whole new approach, focused on marginal gains" which was the same old marginal gains approach from back-in-the-day - DOPE. A pity what's happened to the man now...he was great on the moto doing TV commentary...will he end up as the British equivalent of Freddy Maertens?

[@dorydiavelone3531]

I hope he hasn’t passed the misery to his progeny !!

[@carlobalzer3238]

Greatest cycling 🚲 all time 🇬🇧🐐👍👍👍👍

[@Skitzoidman]

I love that he still called that lovely little cottage home after his success and achievements. And that he was concerned about his family. God bless his wife, and him.

[@tomrees4812]

I saw him well off the back with David Millar on Mont Ventoux in the 2007 Criterium du Dauphine. I would never have guessed what losing a few pounds could do.

[@SecwetGwiwer]

A Therapeutic Use Exemption can do even more.

[@52daytripper]

and a jiffy bag or 2 or 3

[@mikew466]

He grew old and retired. Tried out rowing and didn't do well. Not really mysterious.

[@thecyclingdane]

Hahhahaha

[@robinbunchofnumbers4566]

Arrogance on the guy is unbelievable. Reckoned he was going to start from zero and walk onto GB Rowing team in 4 years. Turns out rowing is a lot harder than it looks. Competed at a single indoor rowing championships. Messed up his start and performed badly. Quit. Then blamed the sport for his lack of progress and shat all over the club that bent over backwards to accommodate him.

[@ROC14088]

He stopped taking drugs

[@giobonjovi]

didn't he also go into bankruptcy?

[@rustydrog]

From the very top to gone in a jiffy

[@stealth1803]

Chris Froome happened to him. Froome was just better

[@tonyb9735]

Sky handles that badly, leading to quite a lot of ill-will.

[@dadwhitsett]

Will never forget Froome waiting for him on an uphill when Froome was his lieutenant...everyone knew Froome was a better climber.

[@ib7844]

But Frome would have lost the Time trial.@@dadwhitsett

[@worldgonecrazy]

​@ib7844 but he would have put time into hin on the climbs , we'll never know tbh but it would have made super watching

[@tomrees4812]

We saw how things can go sour when the domestique starts taking the glory in this year’s Vuelta. With a few very rich teams scooping up the best talent the fans are deprived of some real battles.

[@norabrady9066]

Heard he was a bit up his own asre!

[@charlybeagrie1119]

His father is Australian and Brad was born in Belgian and so he is either Australian or Belgian.

[@gregorygout]

First part of the sentence=facts. 2nd part of the sentence might just be how you see it and not facts?

[@ib7844]

Why not ask him, who he wants to be. Anyway, His mother (Linda) is British or don't women count in your narrow world.

[@glennoc8585]

His mum is English so he got a British citizenship. I'm pretty sure he doesn't identify as Australian in any way

[@Mac10138]

He was about to get exposed for taking PED's.

[@Tara_Masika]

PEDs in cycling. Pah. Nonsense 🤣

[@woolychewbakker5277]

“What happened to Bradley Wiggins” There you go, much more readable title.

[@geoffpyke1]

He grew up in Australia ? What is this

[@nelsonhibbert5267]

No, he didn't.

[@canningsimon]

Sadly all about the doping. That's what happened. Track to TdeF? Nope. Too many times nothing to hero. Drugs.

[@teddykayy]

He's easily one of the most dishonest doping cheaters of his era.

[@plefevre]

He was smart enough to quit before his cheating caught up with him.

[@digitalcommunist6335]

Marginal gains 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 ped galore😂😂😂😂😂

[@Sprinklesofjoy]

Wiggo won the 2012 Olympic time-trial with 50:39... over 40secs ahead of #2 Tony Martin with 51:21.... sorry, you just don't do that unless you're on something... and the fact he disappeared in the years thereafter.... suss

[@artsy38]

Every cyclist is on PEDS even the deliveroo cyclists are cheats .. bottom line don't trust anyone on a bike

[@nickyboy74]

All this heresay bullshit for likes ……nice one.

[@relaxwithbogo5579]

Doping happend, what

[@dr.merlot1532]

Froome came along and then my God Primoz Roglic

[@bipedalame]

He cheated

[@charlybeagrie1119]

legally, you take your nationality from your father or the land ofyour birth.

[@davidhenryandthemysterons3220]

DRUGS

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

Who cares a boring rider in possibly the most boring team in cycling history

[@tonyb9735]

You clearly cared enough to come in here and post a boring comment.

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

@@tonyb9735 drugged up team and does the b in your name stand for boring🤣🤣🤣an half decent track rider but a crap road rider all of a sudden wins the Tour de France get a grip

[@gregorygout]

I did not like team Sky much, but Wiggins seems like a rather interesting person

[@nelsonhibbert5267]

@@tonyb9735 I couldn't read all of that guys comment cos I got bored and fell asleep.

[@keithfowler2013]

Drug cheat !!