Bankrupt Bradley Wiggins reveals he’s getting financial help from disgraced Tour de France drug cheat Lance Armstrong

Bradley Wiggins has revealed he has been offered financial help from a somewhat unexpected source: former cycling legend turned disgraced drugs chief Lance Armstrong.

Wiggins, who previously won a national record eight Olympic gold medals, was one of the greatest cyclists ever produced by Britain, winning both track and road titles during his career.

However, despite his success on the track, a company controlled by Wiggins reportedly had debts totaling around £1 million, and after failing to honor his Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) to repay the money he owed, he was he declared bankruptcy.

The former cyclist reportedly became homeless and allegedly slept at various addresses, including that of his ex-wife, and was said to have come close to selling his Olympic medals.

In addition to his financial problems, Wiggins has also had his own mental health struggles, struggling with drinking after his new found fame at the start of his career, and revealing that he was sexually abused by a coach as a teenager.

But now he has told it The powerful podcast that he has received a generous offer of help from his former Tour rival Armstrong.

The cyclist has won five gold medals during his Olympic career, including at five different Games

Lance Armstrong (right) has offered to help pay for Wiggins’ stay in an Atlanta facility

Armstrong was previously a seven-time winner of the Tour de France and was widely regarded as the greatest cyclist in history until it was revealed that he had used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.

“Lance has helped me a lot over the years and even more so this year,” Wiggins reveals on The High Performance Podcast.

‘He wants to pay for me to go to a specialized center in Atlanta. You stay there for a week and they take away your phone.

“Lance is a good man… And I’m not saying that to condone his actions, we all know that. But it’s a bit out of proportion to what some people do in this world. He has a heart deep inside.’

“He also has an ego as big as a house,” Wiggins adds with a laugh. ‘That’s why he won seven Tours. Well, not in the end.’

In fact, he initially turned down Armstrong’s offer of help before admitting that he was considering accepting it.

‘I wanted to create some order again without talking to anyone. I didn’t want to just go in and say, “Fix me.” Now I know what I want to talk about with a therapist.’

In a candid interview, Wiggins spoke about the problems that had plagued him both during and after his career at the top of the sport.

Armstrong (left) was a former seven-time winner of the Tour de France before he was stripped of his titles

Since retiring from cycling in 2016 after the Olympics, Wiggins has been adrift in rough seas

He talked about the family issues he struggled with, with his father leaving when he was two. He met his father in 1999 and stayed with him in his native Australia in 2000 before reportedly becoming disillusioned with his drug and alcohol abuse.

However, he admits that the most traumatic episode in his life occurred in his teenage years, when he was “sexually abused for three years.”

“But what hurt me most is the fact that I was sexually abused by my first coach for three years between the ages of 13 and 16,” Wiggins says in the podcast.

‘When I started to accept that, after I turned 30, I realized that this was partly why I was so successful.

Cycling was the biggest distraction I could have all those years. But when I stopped cycling, I started hating cycling because I blamed the sport for me meeting that man. It took me five years to come to terms with that after ignoring it for thirty years.”

However, he then added that as a result of the personal journey he has been on, he has been able to find some positivity and optimism for the years to come.

‘There always seemed to be something that caused me problems. I now realize that there will never be a clear path. Something will always happen,” Wiggins said.

‘I was one of those people who, especially after my career, wallowed in self-pity and wondered why this always happened to me.

Wiggins has spoken candidly about the abuse he suffered during his teenage years

‘I have come to the conclusion that these things are only connected if you let them influence your behavior. I was one of those people who would drink and be late for something or not show up for something, and that would affect my behavior.

“Now I’m in the best place I’ve been in the last 44 years of my life. That’s largely because I’ve been to the end of the world.

“I’ve been to dark places sometimes for different reasons. I have experienced extreme highs with my success and other aspects of my life, but I have also, like most of us, experienced the other side of the spectrum.

‘It took me five years to figure it out in my head. I have finally taken responsibility for my own life. I’m not in a position where I’m playing the blame game. I think my best years are yet to come.’