Bradley Wiggins won't push 'talented' son into 'brutal' cycling career
Sir Bradley Wiggins admits he won’t push his ‘very talented’ son, 14, into a ‘brutal’ cycling career – and reveals he keeps his Olympic medals in a Co-op carrier bag in a drawer
- Tour de France 2012 winner, 39, says he won’t push son Ben, 14, into turning pro
- Cyclist, originally from north London, says he doesn’t get involved in his training
- Admits years as road racer with Team Sky were most unhappy of his career
- Enjoys quiet life and no longer throws parties as doesn’t like people in his house
Sir Bradley Wiggins has revealed he won’t be pushing his ‘very talented’ son into becoming a professional cyclist – claiming that doing so to bask in the reflected glory would be ‘cruel’.
The 2012 Tour de France winner, born in Kilburn, north London, said he doesn’t get involved in 14-year-old Ben’s training.
Sir Bradley, 39, whose own father was a cycling champion, revealed that the teenager recently came within half a second of winning the North West Youth and Junior Tour in August – but he’d told him he didn’t care if he finished ‘first or last’.
Speaking on the last night of his national roadshow in London, he explained: ‘I’m not going to push him into that now so I can stand there in 10 years’ time when he wins Olympic gold and the reflected glory – “That’s my son.” I can’t do that, it’s cruel,’ adding that someone else coaches him.
Sir Bradley Wiggins has revealed he won’t be pushing his ‘very talented’ son into becoming a professional cyclist – claiming that doing so to bask in the reflected glory would be ‘cruel’
The ex-champion, pictured with son Ben, revealed that the teenager recently came within half a second of winning the North West Youth and Junior Tour in August – but he’d told him he didn’t care if he finished ‘first or last’
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times Home, the proud father said Ben is ‘mad for cycling’ and is ‘getting good results’, while his daughter Bella, 12, is ‘talented and could be very good if she wanted to be’.
‘It’s hard growing up with a famous father,’ he added. ‘I don’t want them to be judged or feel they have to do what I did.’
During the roadshow, Sir Bradley admitted his years racing on the road with Team Sky were ‘the most unhappy’ of his career.
‘There was no enjoyment. It was a brutal elite sport,’ he said.
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times Home , the proud father said Ben is ‘mad for cycling’ and is ‘getting good results’. Pictured with his son at the end of the 120km and last stage of the 2012 Tour de France
In August it was reported the sportsman is taking a degree in social work as he looks to redefine himself.
‘I don’t give a s*** about my cycling career now,’ he told The Big Issue magazine. ‘I’m just detached from it, I don’t want to live off the back of it.
Sir Bradley was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2012, with his Tour success helping transform the popularity of cycling and his pose on a throne in front of Hampton Court Palace after his Olympic gold becoming one of the defining images of the London Games – as were his late-night celebrations.
Having moved to Manchester in 1999 to be nearer the city’s velodrome, he and wife Cath now live in a 1970s barn conversion in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – the Trough of Bowland, north of Preston.
The champion, pictured competing in the Madison Chase during during day six of the Six Day London Cycling Event at the Velodrome in 2016, admitted to keeping his Olympic medals ‘in a Co-op bag in the drawer’ and his jerseys in boxes for the kids
Sir Bradley Wiggins CBE holds his Knighthood award after it was presented to him by Queen Elizabeth II at an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on December 10, 2013 in London
Sir Bradley told how the couple enjoy watching First Dates and no longer throw wild parties as he doesn’t like people in his house and now treasures his ‘personal space’.
In the interview with Sunday Times Home, he also admitted to keeping his Olympic medals ‘in a Co-op bag in the drawer’.
‘All my jerseys are in boxes for the kids when they get older,’ he added. ‘If they don’t want them, they can chuck them in a skip.’
Sir Bradley, who briefly attempted to become an elite rower after his cycling career ended, has now found success as a pundit for Eurosport, and during this year’s Tour he drew rave reviews for his commentary when riding on a motorbike, laughing and joking with riders in the peloton.
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