Coach named as sexually assaulting Bradley Wiggins as 12-year-old – as Tour de France champion describes being abused in the shower by a 72-year-old during training camps
The name of the coach who sexually assaulted Olympic cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins as a boy has been released.
Stan Knight was reportedly named as the cycling coach who abused Wiggins and other children at the club when he was just 12 years old.
Another Knight victim has spoken of abuse similar to that suffered by the Tour de France champion at the Archer Road Club in Acton, west London.
Knight was also reported to British Cycling by another boy’s family – and allegations involving other young children were also made.
Knight was previously only referred to by his first name by Wiggins.
The name of the coach who sexually assaulted Olympic cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins (pictured) as a boy
A young Bradley Wiggins rides his bike in a race
Wiggins said Knight would take him for training camp to a youth hostel in Litton Cheney, Dorset – and while he would sleep there in the same bed and abuse him in the shower, the Time reports.
In the interview with the Times, Wiggins said that Knight, who died in 2003, would teach him “how to clean your groin in the shower,” saying it was important for him to know for the sport so he doesn’t get a saddle sore. or saddle pain. infections.
Wiggins told the paper that as a schoolboy, Knight showed him how to “lift your bag up with a scrub brush,” adding that “he actually demonstrated that on me, in the shower.”
The cyclist said it was just one of “little acts” that started the abuse when he was 12 and living with 72-year-old Knight at the youth hostel.
Knight also allegedly abused another victim in the same hostel in the 1990s by “stroking” him during sports massages.
The victim, who was a teenager when the abuse took place, said Knight was “abusing this somewhat fuzzy line between what is necessary to be fit and for the sport and what is not acceptable.”
They said he went “well beyond the bounds” of what was needed to aid in training and recovery by putting his fingers “in places you didn’t want.”
The victim also said that Knight was a ‘useless’ coach and acted like a ‘child’ and a ‘complete idiot’ who the club used to be with the boys.
They reportedly know that at least two other former club members were abused by Knight – but are now coming forward because Wiggins did.
Stan Knight was reportedly named as the cycling coach who abused Wiggins (pictured) and other children at the club when he was just 12 years old
The cyclist said his mother had received a letter from British cycling in 2003, when he was 23, saying they had received a complaint from the family of another boy trained by Knight alleging similar abuse.
But at the time, Wiggins said, “No, no, of course not.” He says this has “cemented” him in a position where he says nothing.
A spokeswoman for British Cycling told the Times: “Any abuse has no place in sport. We urge anyone with concerns about non-recent or current abuse to report it… directly to the British Cycling security team.”