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Sir Bradley Wiggins tells young riders that signing for Team Sky will "ruin you"

2012 Tour de France champion does not hold back in scathing verdict on former employers

Sir Bradley Wiggins, who in 2012 became the first British winner of the Tour de France while riding for Team Sky, has told young riders that signing for his former employers will “ruin you.”

The 37-year-old was speaking at the presentation in London on Tuesday evening of his Team Wiggins development squad, which includes the hottest young prospect in British cycling, Tom Pidcock.

The Guardian reports that when Wiggins was asked what advice he would give to youngsters such as Pidcock looking to build a career in the sport, he said: “Don’t go to Sky, steer clear of them. Go somewhere else because they’ll ruin you.”

While Wiggins would not be drawn on the Chris Froome salbutamol case, he was scathing in his opinion of his former employers, saying that their dominance of the Tour de France and recent controversies were to blame for a “negative” climate in cycling.

Wiggins himself has been under scrutiny due to the revelation after the Rio Olympic Games, where he won team pursuit gold, that he took a banned corticosteroid under a therapeutic use exemption ahead of key races including the 2012 Tour de France.

Subsequently, he was at the centre of a UK Anti-doping (UKAD) investigation into the contents of the Jiffy Bag delivered to Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphiné and containing a drug for Wiggins.

The UKAD probe was eventually shelved, with the agency unable to establish exactly what was in the package. Wiggins claimed afterwards that he had been the victim of a “malicious witch hunt.”

> Ukad confirms Team Sky and British Cycling will not face charges over Jiffy bag

Regarding his comments on Team Sky, Wiggins said: “They are not barbed jokes or digs, that’s the reality of the sport at the moment.”

Referring to this month’s Ruta del Sol race in Spain, where Chris Froome made his 2018 debut, he said: “I saw the reports only last week from Andalusia, or wherever it was, and they are the best team in the world.

“How many races did they win last week? And there’s a lot of talk about them at the moment and there’s a lot of negative talk as well.”

He added: “Something has got to happen. Sky are running away with it. With the office blocks they bring with them” – a reference to the ‘Race Hub’ that Team Sky unveiled at last year’s Vuelta, won by Froome – “it’s difficult to compete, isn’t it?

“Whether that helps performance or not, I don’t know. Something has to change to even it out a bit,” he added.

Wiggins was Team Sky's marquee signing when it launched ahead of the 2010 season as he made a controversial switch from Garmin-Slipstream with whom he had finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France, later upgraded to third after Lance Armstrong's disqualification.

Sky's domination of cycling's biggest race beganwith  his own victory in 2012 when the team first mastered the by-now familiar tactic of its riders controlling the race in the mountains to prevent rivals from attacking, but it was also a race that highlighted the fraught relationship between Wiggins and Froome.

After abandoning the 2013 Giro d’Italia through injury, Wiggins missed out on the 2013 Tour de France as well as the following year’s edition, which began in Yorkshire. While he did win the 2014 world time trial championship, he left Team Sky the following April after racing Paris-Roubaix.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

Avatar
Shipley | 5 years ago
0 likes

I’m the last person who would admire SKY and their GT tactics but wow has Wiggins proved to be a prize cock since he retired.

He really ought to shut up and melt into the background.

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Velovoyeur | 6 years ago
1 like

Surely people are aware of Mr Wiggins use of tongue in cheek comments and sarcasm. Not the first time he has done something like this. Probably won't be the last.

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Simon E | 6 years ago
1 like

This a non-story. Everyone knows that Sky puts aspiring young riders into domestique roles.

It's like getting your first proper job after graduating and finding that, instead of being asked about your area of study, it involves emptying the bins, making tea for everyone and running errands all day. Every day.

Look at Joe Dombrowski, Ian Boswell or Alex Peters.

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to Simon E | 6 years ago
1 like

Simon E wrote:

This a non-story. Everyone knows that Sky puts aspiring young riders into domestique roles.

It's like getting your first proper job after graduating and finding that, instead of being asked about your area of study, it involves emptying the bins, making tea for everyone and running errands all day. Every day.

Look at Joe Dombrowski, Ian Boswell or Alex Peters.

And being well paid for it, at least on a par with other teams, and with a good chance of getting the spoils of competition wins being shared and being in a team that is the most well known in the sport (at the moment) which currently doesn't seem to be problematic when looking for a job elsewhere.

Avatar
leqin | 6 years ago
1 like

But on the other hand you'll have a massive stock of jiffy bags to tide you over into old age.

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check12 | 6 years ago
0 likes

I see sky aren’t sponsoring team Wiggins this season 

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Broady. | 6 years ago
2 likes

Quality reporting, it was obviously a joke. Check his Instagram story.

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Yorkshire wallet replied to Broady. | 6 years ago
4 likes

Broady. wrote:

Quality reporting, it was obviously a joke. Check his Instagram story.

Damn. Looks like I got clickbaited by Road.cc.

Avatar
Leeroy_Silk replied to Broady. | 6 years ago
3 likes

Broady. wrote:

Quality reporting, it was obviously a joke. Check his Instagram story.

Bang on comment. Brad was being Brad, tongue firmly wedged in cheek. Even more mainstream media seemed to realise this and mentioned it was a joke. 

What happened to good old honest reporting Road CC?

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
2 likes

Christ, they delivered him into legend status (when perhaps Froome could have really won it) and he's warning young riders of deals with the devil. Everyone sells their soul for success at some level, it's a sacrifice of some sort that will be made, even if it's just time.

Bradley Wiggins the TDF winner is what raised his 'brand' above that of Hoy and Boardman. I wonder if he'd have all this to say if he'd not been rumbled as regards jiffygate?

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