The Chain

Think you know Bradley Wiggins? Think again. A moving and uplifting memoir of self-discovery. The sports autobiography of 2025

'Back in 2012, everyone knew who Bradley Wiggins was. Everyone, that is, but me. Thirteen years after the summer that defined me, I have finally defined myself. The disguises have gone. I've made peace with myself.'

'Back in 2012, everyone knew who Bradley Wiggins was. Everyone, that is, but me. Thirteen years after the summer that defined me, I have finally defined myself. The disguises have gone. I've made peace with myself.'

'IT'S NOT A LIGHT READ BUT, BLIMEY, IT IS BRILLIANT.' POLLY VERNON, THE TIMES

'SUCH A BRAVE BOOK: SUPER OPEN, SUPER HONEST. IT'S GOING TO HELP A LOT OF PEOPLE.' CHRIS EVANS, VIRGIN RADIO

Think you know Bradley Wiggins? Think again.

Join Bradley Wiggins on a remarkable journey of self-discovery during which he faced his greatest ever opponent – the demons inside his head. He has cast aside his fragile shell and is the person he always wanted to be. Finally, he is happy in his own skin. He has broken the chain.

Bradley Wiggins is the greatest British cyclist of his generation. A national hero on both track and road, he won five Olympic gold medals, eight world titles and the Tour de France.

But his is a story mired in contradiction, controversy, and confusion. Sat on a throne after winning gold at London 2012, just ten days after becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France, here was a man with the world at his feet. Sporting hero. People’s champion. Legend. Everyone knew who ‘Wiggo’ was. Everyone, that is, but him.

Bradley’s own truth was one of a chaotic and disturbing upbringing characterised by abandonment and abuse. The bike had been his escape but he knew that the second he got out of the saddle he was a shadow-man with no self-belief and even less self-worth.

With zero confidence in his value as a human being, attention was his worst nightmare. Bradley’s answer was to wear a mask. He became ‘Sir Wiggo’, the loveable rogue, the disguise slowly suffocating the real him, crushing the last few remnants of self-esteem.

Bradley descended into a deep personal despair marked by drug addiction. It was his lowest point, and...read more...