Bradley Wiggins was born on April 28, 1980 in the Belgian town of Ghent. His love of cycling was inspired by watching the 1992 Olympics on TV, and that year aged 12 he told his art teacher that “I’m going to be Olympic champion, I am going to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour”.
“Wiggo” announced his arrival on the world stage in 1998, winning the 3km Individual Pursuit in the Junior Track World Championships in Cuba.
Representing Great Britain, Wiggins won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. When pedaling his way to gold in the Individual Pursuit, Wiggins was four seconds quicker than his final opponent.
He was part of the GB Team Pursuit side that broke the world record three times in 2008, culminating in an astounding 3.53.314 time at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He won gold in the Individual and Team Pursuit at the Games.
Wiggins switched his focus to road cycling in 2009 and finished 4th in only his third ever appearance at the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong’s retrospective disqualification promoted him to 3rd.
In 2012, he won two stages en route to becoming the UK’s first winner of the Tour de France. In doing so he became the first rider in history to win Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, the Criterium du Dauphine, and the Tour de France in a single season.
After ringing the Olympic Bell at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London, Wiggins went on to claim gold in the Time Trial. In doing so he became the joint most decorated GB Olympian with seven medals, alongside Sir Chris Hoy
The cyclist was awarded an OBE in 2005, a CBE in 2009, and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2013.
