Bradley Wiggins has opened up on his father’s “haunting” comment that he would never reach the same heights as him and the impact it had on his career.
The 43-year-old is one of the UK’s most successful athletes having claimed five Olympic gold medals, as well as the Tour de France title back in 2012. While Wiggins enjoyed a hugely successful career, his father Gary did not think that would be the case.
The pair had endured a difficult relationship. Gary - also a former professional cyclist - had been absent for large parts of Bradley’s childhood. He reappeared when Bradley was a teenager to share his growing success.
However, all he shared was a cruel taunt, telling his son would never match his achievements. Instead of letting that comment crush his fledgling dreams, Bradley used it as motivation for the remainder of his career.
Speaking as part of BBC documentary Imposter Syndrome, Wiggins revealed: “He [Wiggins' dad] rang up my nan’s house. He wanted to be part of the success and make up for all those years, and then I eventually met him two years later, when I was 19.
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“He had no money and he came over to Belgium to a race I was doing, and I’ll never forget it. It was probably the hardest day of my life, actually, meeting him.
“Within a week he said to me, ‘You’ll never be as good as your old man’. The sort of jealousy crept in. To this day I remember clearly where I was when he said it.
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“I was in the centre of the track in Ghent in Belgium. I’d done quite a good performance on the track and everyone was cheering for me. I was racing against men and shining. And he couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t handle the attention on me.
“He said to me, ‘Just don’t forget, you’ll never be as good as your old man’. He squeezed my arm and came in quite close to me so no one else could hear.
“It was quite a haunting experience. From that day on there was this drive for so long after that to be better than him. That’s what spurred me on in 2012.”
Wiggins continued to ride up to 2016 - his final Olympic gold coming in the Team Pursuit event in Rio de Janeiro. Away from the Olympics and Tour de France, he also enjoyed plenty of success at the World Championships with eight gold medals and six silver medals accounting for a glittering collection.
His own son Ben is now embarking on his own career in cycling. The 18-year-old rides for the Fensham Howes-MAS Design cycling team.
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