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Sir Bradley Wiggins honoured with blue plaque at his first training ground in London

Star took first pedal strokes at Paddington Recreation Ground

Westminster Council is to honour the achievements of Sir Bradley Wiggins with a blue plaque commemorating the London recreation ground where he took his first tentative pedal strokes.

It comes after his Tour of Britain win last weekend, just a few miles across the capital in Whitehall, and Paddington is a world away from Hampton Court Palace to the west, where he won his Olympic gold medal in the time trial at the London 2012 Games.

Sir Bradley’s grandmother, Maureen Cousins, will unveil the plaque today at Paddington Recreation Ground, near to Kilburn, where the Olympic and Tour de France champion grew up.

Steve Summers, the council’s cabinet member for the community, told the Evening Standard: “Sir Bradley Wiggins is a shining example of what aspiring athletes can achieve and everyone in Westminster takes great pride in seeing just how well the former St Augustine’s high school pupil from Kilburn Park has done.”

Sir Bradley went on to train in south London, at Herne Hill Velodrome and around Crystal Palace, before his early successes led to him being invited to train at Manchester Velodrome.

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5 comments

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Matt_S | 10 years ago
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Wonder if he ever rode there in the rain?  39

 19  19

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monkeys_paw | 10 years ago
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I used to ride on the padding ton track with school. It must have been 84 or 85. It was quite a bumpy concrete track but still a ton of fun!  105

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Nick T | 10 years ago
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Good job I didn't win the TdF last year, they'd have had to put a blue plaque next to the lock-ups in the alleyway next to the Warwick Castle in Maida Vale where I took my first pootle on a plastic tricycle.

The paddington track was demolished in 1987, probably around the same time as that first ride.

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sm | 10 years ago
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Seems an odd choice for the blue plaque. Herne Hill velodrome would have been a better option.

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ChairRDRF | 10 years ago
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Paddington Recreation Ground (just opposite Dibdin House where Brad was brought up) is where Paddington Track (as in velodrome) used to be - it was torn up and removed by Westminster City Council.

I think this happened before young Brad could ever ride on it. What they must be saying is that he rode about on the paths in the Rec as a toddler. It would have been nice if he could have trained on the track.

Maybe the Council could admit that they shouldn't have removed the track?

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