Wiggins 'indebted' to 'inspiration' Armstrong

Five-time Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins says he is "indebted" to disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who he has called a "great strength and inspiration" for his help as he battled drug addiction.

Wiggins, who was the first Briton to win the Tour de France in 2012, revealed last month in The Observer, external how he became a cocaine addict in the years after his career.

And speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the 45-year-old Briton said that since his retirement in 2016 Armstrong, who was stripped of seven Tour de France titles for using performance-enhancing drugs, had supported him.

"He's been a great strength to me and a great inspiration to me, and it's on a human level," Wiggins said.

"Lance has been very, very good to me. That's not something everyone wants to hear because people only like to hear the bad stuff.

"You can only take someone how they treat you and Lance has been a source of inspiration to me and a constant source of help towards me and is one of the main factors why I'm in this position I am today mentally and physically, so, I'm indebted to him for that."

Asked how often he is in touch with Armstrong he added: "I won't say every day, but I work for him."

Wiggins will be working for Armstrong this summer covering the Tour de France for his podcast The Move.

Since his retirement, Wiggins has spoken about his father's jealousy and being groomed by a coach as a child, while he was also declared bankrupt in June 2024.

Speaking last month, Wiggins detailed the extent of the cocaine addiction he developed after his retirement from cycling and explained how his family members feared for him.

In his interview with the BBC, Wiggins said he had wanted to be the "teller of my story".

"We are all humans at the end of the day and it is a human story and I've had lots of events in my life that informed the problems I had in my life post-cycling," he said.

"I'd never had therapy or counselling during my time as a cyclist because you're perceived as a cyclist - or certainly when you're an Olympic champion or the Tour de France winner - to be incredibly mentally strong."

Wiggins won Olympic gold medals on the track at the 2004, 2008 and 2016 Games, and also won the road time trial at London 2012, two weeks after becoming the winning the Tour de France.

"I was one for not taking on help as well or asking for help," he added.

"I'm never going to make the same mistake twice, so I've sort of vowed that to myself. I've learned from the past.

"I'm coming up to 10 years to retirement and I knew nothing else other than cycling really, and having everything done for you on a daily basis.

"It took me a long time to adapt to normal life, as it were, and all the things that contribute to keeping me in a steady place."