Sir Brad’s ‘rough’ childhood
CYCLING hero Sir Bradley Wiggins has revealed how he witnessed someone brutally stabbed to death during his childhood.
Wiggo, 39, says he saw “horrific” crimes while growing up on a rough housing estate in north-west London.
The ex Olympic champ said: “I witnessed a lot of horrific things as a kid, but I didn’t consider them horrific at the time.
“I saw someone being stabbed and murdered, but that was a regular occurrence. If I saw that now I’d be traumatised.”
The first Brit to win the gruelling Tour de France is pursuing a new career as a social worker. The father-of-two said he spent his teen years trying to swerve bullies.
He said: “Because of the nature of cycling, wearing Lycra, that sort of thing, it came with a lot of bigotry, homophobia...not like it is now.
“I had to wear my tracksuit until I got out of the estate or I’d have got my head kicked in. I don’t know where I got the strength.” Even his teachers at secondary school laughed at his dreams of becoming a cycling champ. Yet Sir Bradley added: “Maybe it was stupid, but I believed it 100%.”