Bankrupt cycling legend Sir Bradley Wiggins is offering fans the chance to join him on his first bike ride ‘in nearly three years’ – at a cost of £50-a-head.
The 44-year-old five-time Olympic gold medallist and first British winner of the Tour de France is taking part in the ‘epic’ 50-mile ride through Staffordshire later this month.
Fans worried about keeping up with Sir Bradley are reassured that he will be ‘taking it easy and working his way around the group for a chat and to share a bit of banter along the way’.
‘So I am getting back on my bicycle again,’ he said in a video on Instagram.
‘So it’ll be good, first time in nearly three years for me getting back on a bike, I’m looking forward to it.
Bankrupt cycling legend Sir Bradley Wiggins took to Instagram to offer fans the chance to join him on his first bike ride ‘in nearly three years’ – at a cost of £50-a-head
Sir Bradley poses with his gold medal in cycling at the Rio Olympics in 2016
‘Little bit nervous whether I’ll get round the whole thing, I think I will, I’m in pretty good shape at the moment, you know.
‘And I’m looking forward to, I hope to see as many of you there as possible.’
The potentially lucrative ride comes after lawyers for Sir Bradley told the Mail he had ‘lost everything’ in a shocking change of fortune for one of Britain’s greatest ever Olympians.
In June, Alan Sellers revealed that his client was ‘sofa-surfing’ after the £975,000 barn he once shared with his ex-wife Cath and their three children had been repossessed by a building society and sold.
He has been declared bankrupt – having once been worth £13million – and faces selling all his gold medals to pay off his debts.
Sir Bradley – who recently bravely opened up about sexual abuse he experienced from his coach as a child – has also spoken of how he had given up riding a bike, saying ‘I don’t like the person I became when I was on it’.
The ‘Ride with Wiggins’ takes place on September 29.
Promotional material online says: ‘Don’t miss this chance to cycle alongside the iconic Sir Bradley Wiggins!
Sir Bradley with ex-wife Catherine Wiggins at the 2012 GQ Men of the Year Awards
Sir Bradley Wiggins CBE holds his Knighthood after it was presented to him in December 2013
Bradley Wiggins and Stan Knight, the cycling coach alleged to have abused him aged 13
A young Bradley Wiggins riding his bike in a race in 1994, two years after the BCN Olympics
Bradley Wiggins CBE pictured during the Tour de France in 2012. Wiggins went on to become the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France and the time trial at the 2012 Olympics
‘Starting and finishing at the beautiful Sandon Hall in Stafford, this 50-mile event offers two scenic route options.
‘Secure your spot for just £50 and be part of this unforgettable cycling experience on Sunday, 29th September, starting at 8am.
‘And don’t worry, you won’t be fighting to keep up with the Tour de France champ.
‘Bradley Wiggins will be taking it easy and working his way around the group for a chat and to share a bit of banter along the way.’
Speaking last month on the Forward Podcast with shamed seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Sir Bradley said he ‘never paid attention to my financial affairs when I was racing’, enabling people to ‘take advantage’ of him.
He said the financial ‘mess’ he was now in had been ‘rumbling on for quite a few years’ but that it would be ‘all right’.
He also branded the suggestion he was effectively homeless as ‘sensationalist’.
Sir Bradley has told how he was sexually assaulted 36 times over a three-year period, between the ages of 13 and 16, by his then coach, Stan Knight, who died in 2003.
‘I had wished I never started cycling, because I would never had met this guy,’ he said.