“I’m lucky to be here” - Bradley Wiggins reveals more about his on addiction, survival, and support from Lance Armstrong

Bradley Wiggins, Britain’s first Tour de France winner and one of the most recognisable figures in modern cycling, has spoken with brave honesty about the years of addiction and personal turmoil he has faced since retiring from professional sport. In a candid interview with The Observer, the 2012 Tour champion described a dark chapter of his life marked by cocaine use, emotional pain, and the fear of being found dead by his family.

"There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning," Wiggins revealed. "I was a functioning addict. People wouldn’t realise. I was high most of the time for many years."

The 45-year-old said his issues with addiction escalated to the point where even his children were preparing to intervene. "I was doing shitloads of cocaine. I had a really bad problem. My kids were going to put me in rehab. I was walking a tightrope."

His eventual realisation that things had to change came late, but it was a turning point: "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."

Reflecting on the deeper psychological patterns that led him to substance abuse, Wiggins said, "I already had a lot of self-hatred, but I was amplifying it. It was a form of self-harm and self-sabotage. It was not the person I wanted to be. I realised I was hurting a lot of people around me."

In a twist that has surprised many, one of the figures who played a role in supporting Wiggins through his darkest times was cycling’s most controversial figure, Lance Armstrong. The American, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles due to doping violations, has previously supported fellow Tour winner Jan Ullrich through his own battles with addiction.

How each fan reacts to this is entirely up to them. There is no denying that Armstrong did irreparable damage to the sport, but there is also no doubt he has been there to support those in need.

"He’d been through a similar thing with Jan. They’d try and get hold of me, but couldn’t find where I was. 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. There was an element of me living a lie, in not talking about it."

Wiggins said his addiction offered a temporary escape from the pain he carried, but there was never any in-between. "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."

He also spoke about unresolved questions from his professional career that still weigh on him, particularly surrounding the infamous "mystery package" delivered to him during his racing days, a topic that sparked years of speculation and investigations.

"I was in the eye of the storm. I felt some of those questions needed to be answered and put to bed from the people that could answer those questions, like ‘What was in the package?’"

Asked if he believed there were multiple versions of the story still circulating, Wiggins responded, "There are. There’s a book about that in itself. I would love to know one way or another what actually happened."

Wiggins own autobiography, The Chain, will be released later this year. It promises to offer a fuller account of Wiggins’ fall, survival, and complex legacy in both sport and life.