2001–2004: early years

In 2001, he signed for the Linda McCartney Racing Team, a British professional road cycling team, but it disbanded after internal problems.^[37] He was briefly seen in Sigma Sport colours after the collapse of the Linda McCartney team, but then secured further lottery funding, and began racing for the British national team.^[38] He came second in the prologue of the Tour of Rhodes, two seconds behind Fabian Cancellara of Mapei–Quick-Step,^[39] before winning the general classification in the Cinturón a Mallorca and Flèche du Sud.^[26] In September he crashed his bike, requiring two metal pins in his right wrist. Two weeks later he went to the track world championships in Antwerp, managing seventh place in the individual pursuit and consecutive silver in the team pursuit.^[40]^[41]^[42]

He joined the French team Française des Jeux in 2002,^[43] relocating to Nantes, and soon became homesick, finding it a huge contrast to the British Cycling set-up.^[44] At the Commonwealth Games in Manchester he won silver medals in the individual pursuit, losing to Française des Jeux teammate Bradley McGee (Australia) in the final,^[45] and team pursuit, beaten by Australia, who set a new world record with a time of three minutes and 59.583 seconds.^[46] At the track world championships in Copenhagen, he came fifth in the individual pursuit and won a bronze medal in the team pursuit.^[47]^[48] Wiggins was frustrated with his result in the individual pursuit at the world championships and became disillusioned with his future with Française des Jeux.^[49] British Cycling then enlisted the newly retired Chris Boardman as his mentor.^[14]^[50]

In May 2003, Wiggins made his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia. On the 18th stage he was eliminated from the race, finishing outside of the time limit in a group of 53 riders.^[51] In the summer he competed in the track world championships in Stuttgart, qualifying fastest in the individual pursuit, before beating Russia's Alexei Markov in the first round, setting up a place in the final against Australia's Luke Roberts. He beat Roberts by 0.736 seconds to win the gold medal, his first senior world title.^[52] He also came away with a silver medal in the team pursuit, beaten by Australia in the final, who broke their own world record with a time of three minutes and 57.280 seconds.^[53] In September he won stage one of the Tour de l'Avenir, beating teammate Benoît Vaugrenard and Rabobank's Joost Posthuma by 14 seconds.^[54] In November he won the Six Days of Ghent with Matthew Gilmore of Vlaanderen–T Interim.^[55]

Wiggins signed with Crédit Agricole for the 2004 season, advised by Boardman, who rode for them his entire professional road career.^[56] He began training for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, at first struggling with illness and fitness, he arrived in peak form;^[57]^[58] he qualified for the individual pursuit with a time of four minutes and 15.165 seconds, an Olympic record and fifth fastest time in history.^[59] In the final he beat McGee by over four seconds to win the gold medal.^[60] Wiggins was brought in to the team pursuit squad for the first round against France, replacing Bryan Steel, and advanced into the final, where the team were beaten by Australia, settling for the silver medal.^[61]^[62] Wiggins then partnered Rob Hayles in the Madison. With 90 laps left of the 200, Hayles crashed with Dutchman Robert Slippens, returning after a few laps. They lost a lap to their rivals, but with 30 to go Wiggins attacked, and they regained the lost lap, moving into second place. They lost points in the final sprint, moving them down to third, taking the bronze medal with 12 points, behind Switzerland on 15 and Australia on 22.^[63]^[64] Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games, the last being Mary Rand at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.^[65] On 31 December 2004 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours, for services to sport.^[37]^[66]

2005–2007: on the road

In early 2005, he revealed his desire to compete in road cycling,^[67] and in April won the 16 km (9.9 mi) time trial around the town of Briey in northeastern France, on the second stage of the Circuit de Lorraine.^[68] In September he won his first race stage since 2001, stage eight of the Tour de l'Avenir; finishing with teammate Saul Raisin, with third-placed Steve Cummings (Landbouwkrediet–Colnago) coming in three minutes and 24 seconds later.^[69] Wiggins competed in the Giro d'Italia, finishing 123rd overall.^[70] He came seventh in the time trial at the road world championships in Madrid, one minute and 31 seconds down on winner Michael Rogers of Australia.^[71] He moved to Cofidis for the 2006 season,^[72] and was selected to ride in the Tour de France, finishing his first Tour in 124th place.^[26]

In March 2007, Wiggins returned to the track for the track world championships in Palma, Majorca, his first appearance at the championships since 2004.^[73] In the qualifying round for the individual pursuit, he set his second fastest time since his personal best at the Olympics in Athens, with a time of four minutes and 15.976 seconds; he beat Germany's Robert Bartko in the final to win the gold, catching him after 2750 m.^[74] He then went on to win gold in the team pursuit, beating Ukraine in the final.^[75] He finished in 13th place in the Madison, with Rob Hayles.^[76]

On the road he won stage one of the Four Days of Dunkirk and the prologue of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré,^[77] before competing in the Tour de France and finishing fourth in the prologue in London.^[78] On stage six Wiggins launched a solo breakaway after 2 km (1.2 mi) of racing, leading the race for 190.5 km (118.4 mi), before being caught by the peloton with 7 km (4.3 mi) remaining.^[79] It was seen as a tribute to British rider Tom Simpson, on the 40th anniversary of his death in the 1967 Tour de France, but was a gift to his wife on her birthday, with Wiggins only finding out about the date's significance after the race.^[80]^[81] He received the stage's combativity award, for the most aggressive rider.^[82] Cofidis withdrew from the race before stage 16 after Cristian Moreni failed a doping test.^[83] Wiggins and his teammates were interviewed by police and had their hotel rooms searched. In the aftermath of the positive drug tests on Moreni and on race leader Alexander Vinokourov of Astana, Wiggins spoke out against dopers in the Tour and threw away his Cofidis kit in a bin in Pau Pyrénées Airport, vowing never to race for the team again.^[84]

Despite this Wiggins continued racing for Cofidis, and in August he won the time trial on stage four of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes.^[85] In September, with teammate Michiel Elijzen, he won the Duo Normand, a two-man team time trial over a course of 53.4 km (33.2 mi).^[86] His season on the road ended riding for Great Britain at the road world championships in Stuttgart, coming tenth in the time trial, two minutes and ten seconds behind winner Cancellara of Switzerland; a result he was disappointed with, after hoping to finish on the podium.^[87]

In September he signed for the T-Mobile Team – later known as Team High Road – for the 2008 season, joining compatriot Mark Cavendish, forming a partnership in the Madison.^[88]^[89] Their first race was the Six Days of Ghent in November, finishing in tenth place;^[90] Wiggins still riding for Cofidis.^[91] Wiggins then made his only appearance for the T-Mobile Track Team – which is separate from the road team – at the Beijing round of the 2007–08 Track World Cup Classics in December, winning gold in the individual pursuit and silver in the Madison with Cavendish.^[92]^[93]^[94]

2008: back to the track

For the 2008 season, Wiggins's focus was on the track and on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, deciding not to compete in the Tour de France.^[95] In February he travelled to the United States to train, and rode the Tour of California, coming second in the prologue, behind Cancellara (Team CSC).^[96]

In March Wiggins competed in the track world championships in Manchester, defending his individual pursuit title by beating Dutchman Jenning Huizenga in the final, his third world title in the discipline.^[97] He then won the team pursuit, setting a new world record of three minutes and 56.322 seconds in the final against Denmark.^[98] Wiggins was due to partner with Hayles in the Madison, but Hayles failed a routine blood test, and was subsequently banned for two weeks.^[99] Cavendish was then brought in as his replacement. At around halfway through the race they appeared to be out of contention, with their closest rivals all gaining a lap; but with 35 laps left to race, Wiggins launched an attack which helped them reach the field ten laps later, taking the lead, due to their superior points they had collected in the sprints. They held on to win the gold medal, finishing with 19 points, ahead of Germany on 13.^[100]

Wiggins then rode the Tour de Romandie and the Giro d'Italia, as preparation for the Olympics in August.^[101] At the Giro he was part of the lead-out train that helped Cavendish win two stages.^[102] Wiggins came fourth in the final stage's 28.5 km (17.7 mi)-long time trial in Milan, six seconds behind teammate Marco Pinotti, finishing the race in 134th place, three hours, one minute and 39 seconds down on overall winner Alberto Contador of Astana.^[103]

At the Olympics he began the defence of his title in the individual pursuit, qualifying with a time of four minutes and 15.031 seconds, breaking his own Olympic record from 2004.^[104] In the semi-final he beat Russia's Alexander Serov, before taking gold in the final against Hayden Roulston of New Zealand, becoming the first rider to defend an Olympic pursuit title successfully.^[105] He was a member of the team pursuit that broke the world record in the heats with a time of three minutes and 55.202 seconds.^[106] The following day, the team won the gold medal, beating Denmark by 6.7 seconds with another new world record of three minutes and 53.314 seconds, averaging a speed of 61.719 km/h (38.4 mph).^[107] He paired with Cavendish in the Madison, and as the reigning world champions, they were favourites for the gold medal, but they only finished ninth.^[108] Cavendish felt that Wiggins had not performed to the best of his ability in the Madison.^[109]^[110]

In September Wiggins joined the American team Garmin–Slipstream for the 2009 season.^[111]^[112] On 14 December he came ninth in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, with 5,633 votes, and was a member of the British cycling team that won the Team of the Year Award.^[113] On 31 December he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.^[114]

2009: Tour de France breakthrough

Wiggins switched his focus to road and moved with his family to the city of Girona in north-east Spain, where Garmin–Slipstream were based.^[115] He started the season in February by helping the team win the opening team time trial of the Tour of Qatar, crossing the line first to take the leaders jersey.^[116] In March he came second to Contador in the opening time trial of Paris–Nice, before riding Milan–San Remo and then placing second in the time trial at Critérium International.^[117] In April he won the time trial on the final stage of the Three Days of De Panne, twenty seconds ahead of Vacansoleil rider Lieuwe Westra in second place,^[118] then had top-30 finishes in the Classics: Gent–Wevelgem and Paris–Roubaix.^[117] After finishing in 71st position in the Giro d'Italia and taking second place in the 14.4 km (8.9 mi)-long time trial on the final stage in Rome,^[119] he won the Beaumont Trophy, a domestic one-day race in Northumberland, using it as preparation for the Tour de France three weeks later.^[120]

Wiggins arrived at the Tour de France having lost 6 kg (13.2 lb), and was nicknamed "Twiggo", instead of the usual "Wiggo".^[121] He came third in the time trial on stage one in Monaco, 19 seconds behind Team Saxo Bank's Cancellara and one behind Contador.^[122] He then helped Garmin–Slipstream to second in stage four's team time trial, despite losing four riders.^[123] On stage seven he finished 12th in the first mountain finish and was in fifth place overall at the beginning of the second week.^[124] On stage fifteen in Verbier – the second mountain finish, Wiggins finished fifth, rising to third place overall.^[125] On stage 17 Contador, Andreas Klöden (Astana) and Team Saxo Bank riders Fränk and Andy Schleck attacked on the final climb – the Col de la Colombière, measuring 7.5 km (4.7 mi) at an average gradient of 8.5%, and was left with Astana's Lance Armstrong and Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas, who let Wiggins do all the work before attacking one-kilometre from the summit. Wiggins failed to gain time on the descent and finished three minutes and seven seconds down on winner Fränk Schleck, dropping to sixth overall.^[126]^[127]

Wiggins moved back up to fourth, after finishing in second place in the time trial on stage 19, finishing in sixth place 42 seconds down on winner Contador.^[128] On stage 20 to Mont Ventoux, Wiggins was dropped by the yellow jersey group 1.4 km (0.9 mi) from the summit, finishing in tenth place and kept fourth overall, three seconds ahead of Fränk Schleck; he held that position in the final stage, equalling Robert Millar's highest ever finish by a British rider in the Tour.^[129] In October 2012, following the disqualification of Armstrong, who had originally placed third in the general classification, Wiggins was promoted to third place overall. This decision retroactively gave him the first podium finish by a British rider in Tour de France history.^[130]

In September Wiggins won the national time trial championship in Buckinghamshire,^[131] and in September at the road world championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland, was on course for a bronze medal in the time trial, until a mechanical problem and a delay getting a replacement bike ended with him finishing in 21st place.^[132] In October he ended the season by winning the Herald Sun Tour in Victoria, Australia, after helping teammates for most of the race.^[133] He led the race after winning the time trial on stage five in Geelong, beating second-placed teammate Svein Tuft by fourteen seconds.^[134]

Wiggins had been contracted to ride for Garmin Slipstream again in 2010, but it was announced on 10 December that he was to leave to join Team Sky, having signed a four-year contract with the new British team.^[135]

2010: move to Team Sky

Wiggins began 2010 as a team leader for the first time and his main target was to win the Tour de France.^[136] In February he was part of the team that won the opening team time trial of the Tour of Qatar,^[137] before taking second place in the time trial on stage four of the Vuelta a Andalucía, behind Alex Rasmussen of Team Saxo Bank.^[138] He then went on to finish third at the Vuelta a Murcia in March, behind winner František Raboň of Team HTC–Columbia and Rabobank rider Denis Menchov in second.^[139]

In May Wiggins took his first Grand Tour victory on the wet streets of Amsterdam in the opening time trial of the Giro d'Italia, becoming the second Briton to wear the pink jersey after Cavendish in 2009.^[140] A series of crashes on the second stage put him 32 seconds behind in the general classification to the new leader Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team).^[141] Another crash on stage three cost him a further three minutes and 58 seconds.^[142] He recovered time on stage 11, finishing fourth, from a group of 56 riders, and lay tenth overall.^[143] He faded quickly towards the end of the race, however, losing time in the final stages.^[144] He came seventh in the 15.3 km (9.5 mi) final time trial in Verona. He finished the race 40th overall, one hour, 47 minutes and 58 seconds behind overall winner Ivan Basso of Liquigas–Doimo.^[145] Throughout the race he told the press he was saving himself for the Tour de France, when asked about his form, but in fact felt physically unfit.^[146]

Wiggins then went to a training camp in the Alps, testing the mountain stages used for the Tour; he struggled to find his fitness.^[146] He made a poor start in the Tour, taking 77th place in the prologue after an early starting position left him exposed to poor conditions.^[147] He finished eighth on stage three, as cobblestones troubled a number of favourites,^[148] but on stage eight at Morzine-Avoriaz, the first mountain summit finish of the Tour, he could only manage 19th place, losing one minute and 45-second to stage winner Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank).^[149] The following day he lost more time, coming 13th and losing four minutes and 55 seconds to the main contenders.^[150] He finished in 36th place on stage fourteen, falling to 18th overall, 11 minutes and 30 seconds behind race leader Andy Schleck; to the press he described his form as "consistently mediocre".^[151] On stage 19's time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac, he finished in ninth place, three minutes and 33 seconds behind winner Cancellara.^[152] Wiggins finished the Tour in 24th place, 39 minutes and seven seconds down on winner Contador and seven places behind teammate Thomas Löfkvist.^[153] In February 2012, Contador was found guilty of doping and Wiggins's overall position was upgraded to 23rd.^[154]

He returned to racing in August, at the GP Ouest–France in Plouay.^[155] In September he retained his title at the national time trial championships, around the 52.7 km (32.7 mi)-long course in South Wales,^[156] before finishing the season at the Tour of Britain.^[155] His season ended at the Giro di Lombardia, where he was forced to abandon following a crash.^[157] Over the winter he trained with the Great Britain squad at Manchester Velodrome.^[158]

2011: Dauphiné and Vuelta

Wiggins was team leader of Team Sky again at the start of 2011. He opted not to enter the Giro d'Italia, concentrating instead on shorter events and the classics before undertaking altitude training to improve his climbing for the Tour de France.^[159]^[160] His season began at the Tour of Qatar in February,^[158] before winning the team pursuit at the Manchester round of the 2009–10 Track World Cup Classics, with a time of three minutes 55.438, the fifth-fastest time.^[161] He then came second in the 27 km (16.8 mi)-long time trial on the sixth stage of the Paris–Nice in March, 20 seconds behind Tony Martin of HTC–Highroad.^[162] He finished third overall, behind Martin and Team RadioShack rider Andreas Klöden.^[163] In April he rode Paris–Roubaix,^[164] and then the Tour de Romandie, finishing third in time trial on stage and helped lead-out teammate Ben Swift to victory on the final stage.^[26]^[165] In March he finished second in the time trial on the third stage of the Critérium International, four seconds down on Klöden.^[166] In May he won the 26 km (16.2 mi)-long time trial on stage four of the Bayern Rundfahrt, beating Leopard Trek's Cancellara by 33 seconds,^[167] and finished the event in 14th place overall, while also helping teammate Geraint Thomas to win the event.^[168]

He then went for altitude training in the Alps, in preparation for the Tour.^[169] He took the overall lead in the Critérium du Dauphiné after finishing second in the time trial on stage three.^[170] On the final three mountain stages, Wiggins maintained his lead over second-placed Evans to win the race, at that time his biggest victory on the road.^[171] In June Wiggins won the national road race championship in Northumberland.^[172] On the seventh stage of the Tour, a crash around 40 km (24.9 mi) from the finish in Châteauroux forced Wiggins to retire from the race with a broken collarbone.^[173]

After he had recovered from his injuries, Team Sky confirmed that Wiggins would ride in the Vuelta a España for the first time, as well as in the road world championships.^[174] Wiggins also confirmed that he would take part the Tour in 2012, even though the Olympics would follow soon after. The Vuelta and the world championships were seen as a dress rehearsal for 2012.^[175] He had a difficult start to the Vuelta, as Team Sky finished 42 seconds behind winners Leopard Trek in the opening team time trial in Benidorm,^[176] but a strong first week brought him back into contention, leaving him twentieth overall after stage eight.^[177] On stage nine, Wiggins and teammate Chris Froome attacked on the final climb to finish fourth and fifth respectively, gaining time on Team Katusha rider Joaquim Rodríguez, Michele Scarponi (Lampre–ISD) and other contenders.^[178] Wiggins was expected to take the overall lead in the time trial on the following day, but Froome confounded expectations by finishing second on the stage, and Wiggins only rose to third overall.^[179] He eventually took the lead after the rest day.^[180] Stage fourteen saw Wiggins and Froome gaining on most of their rivals.^[181] However, Wiggins lost the lead to Geox–TMC's Juan José Cobo on stage fifteen, when he finished fifth on the climb up the Angliru and dropped to third in the standings, behind Froome, who was second.^[182] Wiggins finished the Vuelta in third place – his first podium finish in a Grand Tour.^[183] In July 2019 Wiggins was retrospectively promoted to second place in the Vuelta after the UCI stripped Cobo of the win for an anti-doping violation.^[184]

In September he competed in the road world championships in Copenhagen, he won the silver medal in the 46.3 km (28.8 mi) time trial, finishing one minute and fifteen seconds behind Germany's Martin, and four seconds ahead of reigning champion Cancellara (Switzerland) in third.^[185] Four days later, he was part of the Great Britain team that set up Cavendish's victory in the road race; Wiggins took over lead on the final lap of 17 around the 14 km (8.7 mi) circuit, setting a high pace to chase down the breakaway and stop attacks from developing.^[186]^[187]

2012: Tour de France and Olympic gold

In 2012 Wiggins continued to focus on road racing. The individual pursuit was removed from the programme at the Olympics later in the year, and in December 2011 coach Rod Ellingworth told The Guardian, "The chances of him doing the team pursuit are really slim now".^[188] He began his 2012 season with third place in the Volta ao Algarve, including victory in the concluding time trial, edging out world champion Martin (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) by less than a second.^[189]

In March Wiggins finished second in the opening time trial of the Paris–Nice, one second behind Vacansoleil–DCM's Gustav Larsson, who avoided the wet conditions, unlike Wiggins and the other favourites that set off later in the day.^[190] The following day he took the lead in the race after being part of a 30-man breakaway as the peloton split into echelons.^[191] He held the lead for the rest of the event, winning the final stage, a time-trial on the Col d'Èze, to win the race by eight seconds overall and become the first British rider to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1967. His final stage victory was also good enough to give him the points classification.^[192] Wiggins's time is the fastest time for the traditional time-trial on the Col d'Èze.^[193]

On the stage one of the Tour de Romandie in April, Wiggins took a rare sprint victory from a group of 59 riders.^[194] He lost the jersey to Rabobank rider Luis León Sánchez after Sánchez won two consecutive stages,^[195] but won the final time trial, despite suffering a dropped chain, to take the overall victory and become the first Briton to win the race in its 65-year history.^[196]

In June Wiggins competed in the Critérium du Dauphiné, and began the defence of his title with a second-place finish in the prologue, one second behind Team Jayco–AlUla's Luke Durbridge.^[197] He took the overall lead the following day, after Durbridge was dropped on one of the stage's six climbs.^[198] Wiggins won the fourth stage of the race, a time trial over a course of 53.5 km (33.2 mi), 34 seconds ahead of Martin, his nearest rival, extending his lead over him to 38 seconds.^[199] He held the lead to the end, eventually winning by over a minute, with teammate Rogers in second place.^[200]

Wiggins entered the Tour de France as one of the favourites to win it.^[201] Wiggins began the Tour with second place in the prologue, behind Cancellara of RadioShack–Nissan.^[202] He took over the yellow jersey by finishing third on stage seven, the first mountaintop finish, becoming the fifth British rider to wear the jersey, and first since David Millar in 2000.^[203] Wiggins won the time trial on stage nine.^[204] On stage ten, he and his team staved off an attack by Nibali on the descent of the Col du Grand Colombier, with Nibali subsequently accusing Wiggins of disrespecting him: "According to Nibali, Wiggins taunted him at the finish. He turned, looked him in the face and waved".^[205] Wiggins extended his lead on stage 11 after Froome helped him to bridge across to his rivals, who had attacked on the finishing climb to La Toussuire. Froome accelerated about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the finish, and was ordered via his team radio to wait for his leader.^[206]^[207]

During stage fourteen, a mountain stage, a spectator threw carpet tacks onto the narrow road at the top of the Mur de Péguère climb. Several riders suffered punctures, including Evans, the defending champion, who lost approximately two minutes while his team repaired his bicycle. Wiggins and his fellow members of Team Sky emerged without a puncture. Believing that a puncture resulting from an unfortunate incident should not determine the fate of a competitor, Wiggins then had his teammates and the rest of the peloton slow down to allow Evans and other affected cyclists to catch up.^[208] It was perceived as a generous act of sportsmanship and Wiggins was called "Le Gentleman" as a result.^[209] On stage 16, Wiggins and Froome were able to follow attacks by Nibali on the final climb of the day and finished with the same time as the Italian.^[210] On stage 17, the final mountain stage, Froome and Wiggins finished together in second and third place respectively, with Nibali coming in 19 seconds later.^[211] Wiggins won the time trial on stage 19, giving him a lead of three minutes and 21 seconds at the start of the final stage.^[212] On that stage, Wiggins helped teammate Cavendish achieve his fourth consecutive victory on the Champs-Élysées and confirmed his own overall victory in the process.^[213] Wiggins became the first, and is currently the only person in history to win the Paris–Nice, the Tour de Romandie, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France in a single season.^[214]

Wiggins was selected to participate in two road cycling events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London – the time trial and the road race.^[215] Wiggins finished 103rd in the road race.^[216] Wiggins won gold in the time trial ahead of Martin of Germany and Froome of Britain. By doing so he became the most decorated British Olympian, with seven medals, surpassing the six won by Sir Steve Redgrave.^[217] This record was soon shared with Sir Chris Hoy, who also obtained his seventh Olympic medal in 2012.^[218] Wiggins entered the Guinness World Records, becoming the first cyclist to win an Olympic gold medal and the Tour de France in the same year. Wiggins's boyhood idol Miguel Induráin won five consecutive Tours between 1991 and 1995, and won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.^[8]^[219]

Wiggins returned to racing at the Tour of Britain in September, pulling out on the sixth stage with a stomach bug.^[220] The road race at the road world championships in Limburg, Netherlands, was his last of the season.^[221] In October he was awarded the prestigious Vélo d'Or trophy in recognition of his achievements in 2012.^[222] In November he was involved in a road accident and taken to hospital with suspected broken ribs, but was released next day with only minor injuries.^[223] In December he won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award with 492,064 (30.25%) of the votes cast.^[224] Wiggins was knighted in the 2013 New Years Honours for services to cycling,^[225]^[226] although he claimed he would use the title for 'comedy purposes',^[227] stating that he felt "a little bit inferior" to others receiving knighthoods saying "I've won a bike race, you know, and I feel a little bit inferior to everyone", saying "I was just talking to some of the other people getting stuff, and asking them what they've been honoured for, and they're historic things, ground-breaking sciences or whatever".^[228] He was among the nominees for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year, with Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt taking the prize.^[229]

2013: Giro d'Italia and Tour of Britain

It was widely expected that Wiggins would ride to retain his Tour de France title in 2013.^[230] However, in February he asserted that his focus for the season would be the Giro d'Italia, after which he would ride the Tour de France in support of teammate Froome.^[231] In April he let it be known that he desired to win another Tour, and had hopes of achieving the Tour and Giro double – a feat that has not been achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998.^[232]

Wiggins participated in a winter training camp in Mallorca. His first race of the season was the Tour of Oman in February.^[231] On the first stage he was caught behind a crash, the time delay pushing him back to the back of the field. For the remainder of the race Wiggins helped Froome, who won the overall classification.^[233] Wiggins opted not to defend his title at the Paris–Nice, or ride the Tirreno–Adriatico, instead participating in a training camp on Mount Teide in Tenerife.^[234] He returned to action at the Volta a Catalunya in March, finishing the race in fifth place overall, 54 seconds behind winner Dan Martin of Garmin–Sharp.^[235]

In April Wiggins rode the four-day Giro del Trentino in Northern Italy as preparation for the Giro d'Italia. The first day's race schedule consisted of a road race followed by a team time trial. An unexpected breakaway in the road race caused Wiggins to lose over six minutes. However he led the team to victory later in the day during the team time trial.^[236] On stage two he cut his deficit to race leader Maxime Bouet of Ag2r–La Mondiale in half, lifting Wiggins into the top-five overall.^[237] On the fourth and final stage Wiggins suffered a mechanical problem at the foot of the final 14.6 km (9.1 mi) climb. He ended up finishing the race in fifth place, one minute and 40 seconds down on winner Nibali (Astana).^[238]

Wiggins entered the Giro d'Italia as one of the favourites for the general classification.^[239] Team Sky won the stage two team time trial on the island of Ischia, covering the distance of 17.4 km (10.8 mi) 14 seconds quicker than Nibali's Astana squad.^[240] On stage four Wiggins lost 17 seconds after being delayed by a crash within the final 3 km (1.9 mi), dropping him in the standings from second to sixth.^[241] A wet stage seven saw Wiggins crash while making a descent some 6 km (3.7 mi) from the finish, placing him in difficulty. Teammates Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao helped pace him back toward the leaders, but could not close the gap. Wiggins finished 90 seconds down on the race favourites, dropping him out of the race's top 20.^[242] In the following stage, a 54.8 km (34.1 mi) time trial, Wiggins placed second to compatriot Alex Dowsett of Movistar Team. A bike change compelled by a puncture cost Wiggins some time, and he ended up finishing the race ten seconds down on Dowsett.^[243] Wiggins struggled on the wet roads of stage nine, losing touch with the peloton on the descent of the Vallombrosa some 60 km (37.3 mi) from the finish. A group of teammates helped pace him back, and the gap was closed.^[244] Following stage 11 Wiggins revealed that he was suffering from a chest infection. He withdrew from the race the following day, after losing over three minutes on the day's stage.^[245]

The presence of a knee injury was disclosed to the public on 31 May, which forced Wiggins to forgo defending his title in the Tour de France.^[246] He subsequently suggested he may never ride the Tour again.^[247] He returned to racing at the Tour de Pologne, winning stage seven's 37 km (23.0 mi) time trial, 56 seconds ahead of second placed Cancellara.^[248]

In September, Wiggins led Team Sky at his home race, the Tour of Britain. He won the time trial on stage three on roads around Knowsley Safari Park, close to his home in Lancashire.^[249] He held the lead for the rest of the week to win the race for the first time, and take his first stage race victory of the season.^[250] The following week at the world championships, he took the silver medal in the time trial, behind winner Tony Martin and ahead of Cancellara in a repeat of the 2011 podium.^[251] Wiggins was also selected to ride the road race, but abandoned after one lap, and was soon followed by the other British riders as none finished the race.^[252]

2014: world time trial champion and track return

Wiggins had stated that his main targets for 2014 were the Paris–Roubaix one day Classic, the Tour of California and the road world championships, as well as riding the Tour de France in support of Chris Froome.^[253]^[254]

Wiggins rode the Tour of Flanders as a replacement for the injured Ian Stannard, and finished 32nd, one minute 43 seconds behind the winner Fabian Cancellara, having helped Geraint Thomas on his way to eighth. Wiggins contested Paris–Roubaix for the first time since 2011,^[255] becoming the first former Tour de France winner to compete at the race since Greg LeMond in 1992,^[256] and secured ninth position, his only top ten finish in a monument as part of a group twenty seconds down on race winner Niki Terpstra.^[257]

At the Tour of California, Wiggins won the time trial on stage two by a margin of 40 seconds over second placed Rohan Dennis (Garmin–Sharp) to move into the overall lead which he would keep for the rest of the race.^[258] Despite that good result, Wiggins was not selected by his team to be riding the Tour de France,^[259] prompting his return to the track cycling team as preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

At the Commonwealth Games in July, Wiggins participated in the 4000m team pursuit with Steven Burke, Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant, managing to win the silver medal.^[260] The following day Wiggins announced that he was "done with the road" and that he would likely never ride a grand tour again. He did not rule out some road events but wants to concentrate his training on preparation for the team pursuit at the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[261]

In September Wiggins rode the Tour of Britain, winning the final 8.8 km (5.5 mi) time trial in London and ending the race in third overall behind the winner, Garmin–Sharp's Dylan van Baarle, and Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step).^[262] Wiggins then won gold in the time trial at the world road championships in Ponferrada, Spain, with a winning margin of 26 seconds over Tony Martin over the 47.1 km (29.3 mi) course.^[263]

2015: Paris–Roubaix, WIGGINS and hour record

In January 2015 it was confirmed that Wiggins had signed a contract extension with Team Sky to the end of April 2015, with a focus on attempting to win Paris–Roubaix, before transferring to his newly founded WIGGINS team in order to prepare alongside other members of the British track endurance squad for the team pursuit at the 2016 Summer Olympics. It was also confirmed that he would attempt to break the hour record in 2015.^[264] In March he confirmed that he would make his debut with his eponymous team at the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire at the start of May.^[265]

Early in the season, Wiggins rode the Tour of Qatar, in which he lost out on contention for the general classification after being caught out by a split in the peloton and then finished third in the race's individual time trial stage behind Cancellara and Niki Terpstra, his first opportunity to wear his rainbow skinsuit. Wiggins then took part in the traditional opening race of the classics season, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, finishing 44th as his teammate Ian Stannard took victory.

Wiggins returned to Paris–Nice, a race he had won in 2012. The race opened and closed with time-trials; Wiggins finished 12th in the prologue, did not feature in the following five stages, often riding at the back of the peloton, and then withdrew before the traditional mountain time-trial up the Col d'Èze, a stage for which Wiggins holds the fastest ever time, a legacy of his 2012 victory there.^[193] Again, his teammate Richie Porte was victorious in the race.

Wiggins was set to ride E3 Harelbeke in March, a return to the cobbled classics in the lead up to his main objective of Paris–Roubaix, but withdrew. Instead he rode Gent–Wevelgem two days later; however, he abandoned the race, which was hit by severe weather conditions with much heavy wind and rain, and only 39 riders finished the race.^[266] During the mid-week Three Days of De Panne, which began on 31 March, Wiggins acted as a lead-out man of Sky's sprinter, Elia Viviani, and then convincingly won the final stage's short time trial, expected to be his last in Sky colours, which also gave him 3rd place overall in the race.^[267]

At Paris–Roubaix, Wiggins's much publicised last race with Sky and primary goal of the early season, he finished in 18th position. He attacked with 30 km (18.6 mi) left to race, but was reabsorbed by the peloton.^[268] A few days after the race it was announced that Wiggins would make his bid to break the hour record on 7 June at Lee Valley VeloPark.^[269] He participated to the Tour de Yorkshire with WIGGINS Team, but did not register a significant result. A few weeks after leaving Team Sky, Wiggins said he felt "liberated" and "happier".^[270] On 7 June 2015 Wiggins broke the hour record, riding 54.526 km (33.881 mi), surpassing Dowsett's mark of 52.937 km (32.894 mi), set five weeks earlier, by more than 3%.^[271]^[272]

Roubaix, his first top-ten finish in a 'monument' classic, effectively marked the end of Wiggin's elite road career. That career was unusually brief by professional standard; his unexpectedly high finish in 2009 Tour de France led to his high-profile transfer to Team Sky for the following year, and a difficult first season. From 2011 through 2015, however, he had a remarkable run of successes including world and Olympic time trial titles, a Tour de France title and podium place in the Vuelta a Espana in 2011, and wins in almost all the major one week stage races between 2011 and 2013, including a Paris-Nice and two Criteriums du Dauphine, becoming the first man to win a treble of the Paris-Nice, the Dauphine and the Tour du Romandie, and the Tour de France in one season during his annus mirabilis in 2012. By 2014, however, he had already been eclipsed by his super -domestique Chris Froome in the Sky pecking order, incentivizing his return to the track in time for one last run at the Olympic Games and a fifth Olympic gold medal.

On 16 August, Wiggins joined Cavendish on the track for the first time since the 2008 Olympics, winning the Madison in the first round of the Revolution cycling series at the newly opened Derby Velodrome.^[273] In October Wiggins took his first gold medal at the European track championships when he was part of the British squad that won the team pursuit.^[274]

2016: fifth Olympic gold and retirement

Wiggins competed at the world championships in London, where he took two medals: in the team pursuit, he was part of the British squad that qualified for the final, where they took the silver behind Australia despite leading with 500 metres to go and going on to set the fastest time in competition by a British quartet since 2012. However Wiggins said that he was happy with his performance, stating "that (was) the strongest I've been in a team pursuit, so there's a bit of life left in me yet, and I've got another four or five months to get a bit better".^[275] Subsequently, he raced with Cavendish in the madison, where they clinched their second world title in the discipline as a pairing using similar tactics to their 2008 win: accumulating points in the sprints in the early stages of the race, before making up a one lap deficit on their French, Colombian and Swiss rivals by working with the Spanish pairing of Sebastián Mora and Albert Torres in a breakaway, taking the lead and holding on for the win despite Cavendish crashing with 11 laps to go.^[276]

Through the spring of 2016 Wiggins focused on training for the Olympics,^[277] limiting his road racing to a small number of events, finishing low down the placings in all of them.^[278] As part of a five-man squad for the team pursuit, Wiggins was reported to be breaking world records in Olympic training,^[277] despite apparent disagreements between Wiggins and Cavendish, who was nominated as the squad's fifth rider in order to allow him to enter the omnium at the games.^[279] The team pursuit squad achieved the fastest time in qualification for the tournament,^[280] before reaching the final with a world record time in a victory against New Zealand.^[281] In the final, Great Britain defeated Australia to bring Wiggins his eighth Olympic medal, and his fifth gold.^[282] Subsequently, Wiggins announced his plan to retire after the Six Days of Ghent in November.^[283] He plans to expand his activities in supporting and running Team Wiggins, including an aim to create a women's team.^[284] In his penultimate racing event, the Six Days of London, Wiggins placed second overall with Cavendish,^[285] before the pair won his final event, the Six Days of Ghent.^[286] After the event, Wiggins confirmed that this had been his last race as a team with Cavendish, but that he may go back on his decision to retire, in the right circumstances.^[286] However, on 28 December 2016 he announced that he was retiring from professional cycling saying "2016 is the end of the road for this chapter, onwards and upwards, 'feet on the ground, head in the clouds' kids from Kilburn don't win Olympic Golds and Tour de Frances! They do now."^[287]