logo
episode-header-image
Nov 5
22m 59s

Sir Bradley Wiggins: I couldn’t see hope...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

''There were periods when I couldn’t see any hope or joy,'' says British cycling champion Sir Bradley Wiggins in a deeply personal interview with Anna Foster

The first Briton to win the Tour de France, he collected five Olympic gold medals throughout his career. But his stellar reputation came under attack as he faced allegations of doping. What followed was a descent into drug addiction that was fueled, he says, by the pain of an absent father and the abuse he suffered at the hands of a coach, all while growing up in the public eye.

Today he is a “better version of himself”, supported by close family, clean of drugs for a year and in therapy. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Anna Foster Producers: Jade Lauriston and Lucy Sheppard Editor: Justine Lang

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Sir Bradley Wiggins Credit: Nordin Catic/Getty Images)

Up next
Today
Sir Nick Clegg: Social media’s power paradox
<p>Amol Rajan speaks to Sir Nick Clegg - former deputy Prime Minister of the UK and, more recently, former President of Global Affairs at Meta - about big tech, AI and the future of social media.</p><p>Sir Nick first appeared on the world stage back in 2010, when he became the UK ... Show More
22m 59s
Nov 22
Twinkle Khanna: Indian women’s aspirations have changed
<p>‘When it comes to women's lives, things have progressed, maybe not always in a linear way.’</p><p>Devina Gupta speaks to author and columnist Twinkle Khanna about the lives of women in 21st century India. Khanna’s column in the Times of India, Mrs Funnybones, captures the co ... Show More
22m 59s
Nov 21
Sundar Pichai CEO of Google: AI prone to errors
<p>“The current state of the art AI technology is prone to some errors… you have to learn to use these tools for what they are good at, and not blindly trust everything they say.”</p><p>Faisal Islam speaks to Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and its holding company Alphab ... Show More
22m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2024
Is Rachel Reeves a bad Chancellor?
<p>New figures show that not only has the economy contracted, but job hiring is at a record low.</p><br><p>Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves strode into Downing Street on July 5th talking about just one thing - growth. But since then the government has raised employers’ national ins ... Show More
40m 12s
Jun 2025
Why are politicians weaponising grooming gang survivors?
<p>Louise Casey's report on grooming gangs is incredibly tough reading. She details, over 200 pages, the repeated failings of local authorities, police forces, government departments and indeed the legal system, which treats the victims of the most horrific abuse as somehow culpa ... Show More
35m 28s
Mar 2025
A First Hand View Of What Happens When Aid Funding Dries Up
<p class="" data-start="109" data-end="1000">Effectively and efficiently responding to humanitarian crises is one of the things the United Nations and its partners in the NGO community do best. Over the years, they have gotten very good at saving lives. This system is now under u ... Show More
25m 21s
Jan 2024
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths
After 100 days of the Israel-Hamas war, the toll on civilians keeps getting worse. The World Health Organization warns that Gaza could be on the brink of famine. Meanwhile the United Nations is desperately trying to plug the aid gap, in Ukraine and in other war zones. UN Humanita ... Show More
58m 57s
Aug 2024
What's Behind the Violence on England's Streets?
Today, we look at what causing people to riot on the streets of England.Unrest has broken out in multiple towns and cities through the week, the first example of which was see in Southport, where three young girls were killed on Monday.In Sunderland on Friday night, three police ... Show More
33m 8s
Jul 2025
An interview with UN relief chief Tom Fletcher | Rethinking Humanitarianism
"It's not just our finances that are under attack, but it's also our morale and our legitimacy." In a fresh season of the podcast, TNH CEO Tammam Aloudat, our new host, sits down with people who have something important to say about the future of aid. In this episode, he's joined ... Show More
33m 47s
Feb 2024
Has Starmer been ‘decisive’ over Rochdale.. and the battle for The Body Shop
Labour is no longer backing a candidate in the Rochdale by-election. Party spokespeople had been out to bat for local councillor Azhar Ali up until Monday afternoon - saying his comments about the Hamas attacks on Israel were informed by an online conspiracy theory and "didn't re ... Show More
20m 13s
Mar 2025
Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies
As peace talks drag on, the crisis in Gaza gets worse and worse. It's now two weeks since Israel shut off electricity, food, fuel and medical supplies, in a bid to pressure Hamas to accept an extension of the preliminary ceasefire. Gavin Kelleher is the humanitarian access manage ... Show More
56m 10s