Sir Bradley Wiggins has described his public reaction to Lance A🌳rmstrong's doping confession in 2013 as "one of my main regrets".
Speaking in a candid interview with the , Wiggins said, "I had to do all the interviews and things around it, and there was all that I was told what▨ ꦡto say.
"I was told what to say about Lance Armstrong, in terms of my opinion and stuff. And that was one of my main regrets... I wish I'd just said what I thought," he c⛦ontinued.
In 2013, Wiggins' reaction to the publ💫ic fall of Lance Armstrong was in tune with the remainder of the sporting world. Speaking in an interview with the at the time, he described his fourth pl𓃲ace at the Tour de France behind Lance Armstrong as unjust.
"I look back now and he certa🥀inly robbܫed me of maybe third place in the Tour de France and standing on that podium and experiencing what that was like," he said at the time.
Speaking about the condemnation in𒊎 retrospect, though, Wiggins recalls th🃏at he was influenced heavily by Team Sky's media direction.
"It was har🐻d, you know, because I was representing Sky," he explains. "I had to say everything that they wan💝ted me to say on that issue. And I wish I'd have been able to have my own voice on that."
Wiggins desc𒁃ribed what he saw as 'hypocrisy' in the media in reaction to Armstrong's confession.
"I thin♉k there was a lot of hypocrisy in the media, a lot that me💟dia knew what he was doing," he said.
"And people wer💟e sat there dumbfounded that really, 'he took all this stuff?', and people knew what was happening," he added. "They knew what was happening across th♒e sport. You know, it was a pandemic in the sport in that sense."
"It's still an open wound in many ways," Wiggins added, highlighting that today's champions are answering questions driven by♕ scepticism about clean cycling.
Wiggins has been open about his recent friendship with Lance Armstrong, revealing that the 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Texan funded his therapy following Wiggins' financial and mental struggles, 澳洲幸运5开奖官网❀⭕在线查询开奖结果:most notably his bankruptcy in 2024.
Winning behaviours
Elsewhere in the interview, which Wiggins was using to promote his partnership with Beefy's Charity Foundation, the To🏅ur de France winner recalled his struggles with some of the marginal gains doctrines at Team Sky.
Discussing Team Sky's "winning behavi🍰ours" initiative, Wiggins said, "I don't know what 🌊it meant."
"I remember all that crap they🗹 came out with," he went on to say. "I mean, it's the same t💃hing Dave Brailsford's doing the same now at Manchester United – Project 21 or whatever it's called."
Wiggins added a harsher evaluation of Brailsford, despite the former team manager's sparklඣing career achievements, claiming, "He's just a bluffer".
"I don't know how any of that&helli🐼p; that was more, maybe for the staff, the winning behaviours thing," he said.
Wiggins was promoting a ride he will be taking part in on the 15th and 16th September 2025 to benefit Ian Botham's charity foundation - - which supports Blood Cancer UK and the Batten Disease Family🐈 Association amongst others.
Wiggins concluded with a reflection on his seemingly turbulent retirement, "I'm nearly 10 years retired now. I think, God, what's the last 10 years? And the other𒐪 thing I𝐆 probably told my younger self, not everyone who helps you is your friend and not everyone who hurts you is your enemy."
You can listen to the entire Cyclist magazine podcast episode on or , or any other major p𝔉odcast platforms.
