Wiggins used 'cycling as distraction' after suffering 'borderline rape' by coach
Cycling legend Sir Bradley Wiggins has told how he suffered 'borderline rape and sexual abuse' by a coach during his childhood.
Sir Bradley, 42, has said that he was groomed over a period of three years from the age of 12 at a cycling club.
The five-time Olympic champion explained how his alleged abuser took his pulse aged 12 and told him that he would be "the greatest cyclist that ever lived."
And Sir Bradley has explained that he dedicated his life to the sport as a way of distracting himself from the ordeal - with the face of the unnamed coach still haunting him today.
This comes almost a year on from when Wiggins first made the revelation that he was groomed by a coach in a Men's Health UK interview with former Labour aide Alastair Campbell.
Chris Froome gets shot at fifth Tour de France as team is handed wildcard spot
Wiggins has recently launched an NSPCC campaign raising awareness of child abuse (Photo by Nordin Catic/Getty Imag)He has now disclosed further details of his alleged abuse on the Happy Place Podcast, explaining how his involvement in a new NSPCC campaign has meant he had to relive his trauma.
"The hardest part was the campaign stuff, doing interviews about it," he said. "I was having to relive some of the minor incidents that happened to me with this coach to add weight to the campaign.
"This happened over a three-year period. I can't remember how many times it happened. We're talking about incidents from very minor to borderline rape, sexual abuse, whatever term you want to use.
"In recalling this stuff to add weight to the interviews and trying to really beef it up, I found I was recalling a lot of the incidents in my head over and over again - particularly this guy's face. It really hit me hard. I have to be careful how much I do to help people at the expense of myself.
Wiggins, the first Briton to win the Tour de France, has disclosed details of the abuse he suffered (Getty Images)"My greatest shame was that another man had done that to me. I couldn't get my head around the abnormality of that - particularly at 13. That is a trauma. From that moment, I pretended it didn't happen, and I dedicated my life to cycling as a distraction.
"This guy met me when I was 12, and he felt my pulse. He said 'you'll be the greatest cyclist that ever lived'. He used to say that to everyone he met.
"When I announced it, I got three messages from different clubmates who were in the same club at the same. They said that, 'looking back, we all knew really, and we should've done more to help you.'"
The five-time Olympic champion says he focused on cycling as a "distraction" (Getty Images)Sir Bradley says that he 'hated' cycling during his career and no longer has any interest in the sport. He believes pursuing his goals on the track was simply a vehicle to feel closer to his father, a former professional cyclist who died in 2008 and left the family when he was just two.
He added: "I was obsessed with cycling. Because I threw myself into cycling, I became like a sponge. When I do cycling commentaries, they call me the Oracle because I know what shoe someone was wearing in 1996, what race they won - it was like a religion to me.
"Now I don't pay any interest to cycling - I couldn't care less. I don't watch cycling anymore. I have no interest in it. It filled a massive void in my life with a view to be close to my dad."
Rugby World Cup presenter Jill Douglas fumed at Olympic legend during interview
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
