British Cycling offers ‘full support’ to Bradley Wiggins over grooming claim

British Cycling has offered its “full support” to Sir Bradley Wiggins after he revealed he was sexually groomed by a coach when he was 13-years-old.

The 2012 Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic champion told Men’s Health UK magazine he did not feel he could speak up at the time due to a difficult relationship with his stepfather.

Wiggins (41) said: “I was groomed by a coach when I was younger – I was about 13 – and I never fully accepted that.”

Asked if he was groomed sexually, Wiggins added: “Yes. It all impacted me as an adult… I buried it. My stepfather was quite violent to me, he used to call me a f****t for wearing Lycra and stuff, so I didn’t think I could tell him.

“I was such a loner… I just wanted to get out of the environment. I became so insular. I was quite a strange teenager in many ways and I think the drive on the bike stemmed from adversity.”

Wiggins made the revelation in an interview with Men’s Health ‘Talking Heads’ columnist Alastair Campbell in the May issue of the magazine, which goes on sale on April 20th.

British Cycling issued a statement on Tuesday offering support to Wiggins.

“We are deeply concerned by the matter raised by Sir Bradley Wiggins and our safeguarding team has made contact with him today to offer our full support,” the statement read.

“We would encourage anybody who has suffered abuse or has concerns about the welfare of others – regardless of when the incident took place – to utilise the support offered both by our trained team at British Cycling and the dedicated NSPCC helpline, which in turn helps us to ensure that our sport is a safe and welcoming place for all.”

NSPCC’s head of child protection in sport Michelle North said Wiggins had shown “real bravery” in speaking