Olympic champion and Tour de France winner awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list
Bradley Wiggins last night added a knighthood to his amazing list of achievements – and immediately insisted: “Don’t call me Sir.”
Wiggo, who pedalled into the history books as the first British winner of the Tour de France before taking Olympic gold, headed a record field of athletes in the New Year Honours List.
But the modest father of two – recently crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year – has no intention of letting his new title go to his head.
He said that despite his all-conquering year the honour still came as fantastic surprise and stressed he would not expect people to address him as “Sir Bradley”.
He added: “I never ever imagined that I would ever become a knight so it’s an incredible honour.
“But there’s a slight element of disbelief and it will take a while to sink in.
“It’s not something I’ll use on a daily basis, but it’s nice to have in the trophy cabinet as the ultimate accolade as a sportsman, being knighted by your country for not only the success this year but 12 years now of consistent work and performing – four Olympic Games, seven medals.”
Danny Boyle, who created the triumphant opening ceremony which included a Queen stunt-double parachuting in with James Bond, turned down a knighthood.
But Wiggo, 32, of Eccleston, Lancashire, said: “There was never any doubt whether I’d accept it or not.
“It was more a case that I never saw myself as a Sir – and I probably never will.”
“I don’t like profiting from status so it’s more for my family. It’s nice for my parents and grandparents to be able to say I’m a knight, and for my kids in the future.
“To be deemed good enough to have a knighthood by the establishment is quite nice really, because I’ve continued to be myself through most of the fame.
“Not all of it’s been good, a couple of swear words and things, so it’s nice to be able to receive this after everything, it shows you don’t have to have a stiff upper lip and say all the right things all the time.
“It’s a nice advertisement for our culture I think because so much of it is based on being something you’re not with celebrity, so it’s reassuring in a way.”
He said: “It’s been an incredible year and you just try to take everything in your stride, whether it’s winning the Tour, the Olympics, Sports Personality, it’s just one thing to another. This has just topped it off.
“I don’t think life will go back to normal in the short term, and I’ve accepted that. It comes with success really and, when you consider what we’ve achieved, it’s expected.
“It’s taken a while to accept that and accept being public property whenever you’re outdoors. Chris Hoy had the same thing after Beijing and I spoke to him about it. It’s the way it is.”
Wiggins is almost as famous for his love of mod culture as he is for his exploits on two wheels, with spectators at the Olympic time trial donning fake sideburns in his honour.
Last week he joined Weller on stage during a charity concert at Hammersmith Apollo.
Asked for his highlight of 2012, Wiggins said: “For me it’s probably the obvious one, apart from Sports Personality, playing at Hammersmith Apollo with Paul Weller last Wednesday was incredible.
“That topped it for me, and that’s not a joke. It was amazing. Playing a Jam song as well, I mean how many people get to do that?”
Wiggins knows he may never be able to better or equal 2012, but he is already in training for 2013, where he is planning to ride both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
There is still uncertainty about whether he will bid to defend his Tour crown or support team-mate Chris Froome, who finished second this year.
Wiggins said: “I’m doing the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France as a new challenge, and that’s very much what we’re training for at the moment.
“The priority is the Tour of Italy and then we go to the Tour and it could be in a support role to Chris Froome, it could be both of us, it could be me again, it really depends on how the season pans out, on results and form and even whether both of us make it to the Tour.”
Wiggins had been widely tipped to receive a knighthood after his spectacular achievements this year, but he admitted he thought he may have missed out as time ticked by before he finally received notification two weeks ago.
“I was in Spain on a training camp so it came quite late,” he said.
“I actually thought, early December, you normally hear by now, so I thought maybe it wasn’t going to happen this time so when it finally did come I thought, ‘Blimey’.”
The fame that has come with his achievements has made Wiggins a reluctant celebrity, but it is something he has come to terms with after seeking advice from Hoy.
Other sports gongs
One in 10 gongs went to people from the world of sport – three times as many as last year and an all-time high, as Team GB were recognised for our most successful Games ever.
Honours chiefs had to produce a separate Olympic and Paralympic list of 78 medal winners and their support staff to avoid crowding out 45 heroes of grassroots sport who also received awards.
Sailor Ben Ainslie, the first torchbearer who became a four-time Olympic champion, also received a knighthood.
And paralympics cyclist Sarah Storey, whose four wins at London 2012 takes her career haul to a staggering 11 Olympic golds, was made a Dame.
Sarah, 35, who is expecting her first child, is honoured after equalling Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Dave Roberts as one of the country’s most successful Paralympians.
She said: “Wow, I am speechless but incredibly honoured.
“I never expected any additional awards after my sporting success. I love competing for my country and that is a huge honour in itself.
“Now to be a dame is beyond anything I could have ever imagined and I cannot thank my family, friends, coaches and support staff enough for their devotion in helping me become the best athlete I can possibly be.”
Paralympic 100m gold medallist and world-record holder Jonnie Peacock, who famously defeated “Blade runner” Oscar Pistorius, also received an MBE.
Games poster-girl Jessica Ennis, who stole the nation’s hearts as she stormed to heptathlon gold, and double 5,000m and 10,000m gold-winning runner Mo Farah were among those awarded CBEs.
Cyclist Victoria Pendleton, rower Katherine Grainger and wheelchair hero David “Weirwolf” Weir, who added four Olympic golds in London to his two from Beijing, were similarly honoured.
Tennis star Andy Murray, who won the US Open as well as Olympic gold, got an OBE along with Sophie Christiansen, Britain’s first triple gold medal winner of Paralympics 2012, and fellow equestrian Charlotte Dujardin.
Cycling golden couple Laura Trott and Jason Kenny, who went public with their love affair by kissing as they watched beach volleyball, were also handed the honour along with Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds.
Nicola Adams, who made history as the first female gold medal winning boxer, was among the Olympians and Paralympians who received an MBE.
Others included gymnast and Strictly winner Louis Smith, wheelchair racer “Hurricane” Hannah Cockcroft, long jump hero Greg Rutherford and Tae Kwon Do gold medallistJade Jones.
Olympic triathlon champ Alistair Brownlee also received the award but his brother Jonathan, who took bronze, missed out this time round.
Fast Facts: Sir Bradley Wiggins
- 1980: Born April 28 in Ghent, Belgium before growing up in London. Son of Australian former racing cyclist Gary Wiggins.
- 1992: Begins track cycling at Herne Hill Velodrome, London.
- 1997: Wins individual pursuit gold at Junior World Track Championships in Cuba.
- 2000: March – Silver in team pursuit at Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester.
- October – Bronze in team pursuit at Olympic Games in Sydney.
- 2001: September – Silver in team pursuit at Track Cycling World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
- 2002: July – Silver for England in team pursuit and individual pursuit at Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Gold in individual pursuit at Track Cycling World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
- 2003: August – Silver in team pursuit at Track Cycling World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
- September – Wins opening stage of Tour de l’Avenir.
- 2004: August – Olympic gold in individual pursuit at Athens Olympics. Also wins silver in team pursuit alongside Steve Cummings, Paul Manning and Rob Hayles and bronze in Madison alongside Rob Hayles to become first Briton since 1964 to win three medals at one Games.
- 2005: September – Wins stage eight of Tour de l’Avenir.
- 2006: July – Makes Tour de France debut, riding for French team Cofidis.
- 2007: March – Wins gold in the individual pursuit and team pursuit at Track Cycling World Championships in Palma, Majorca.
- June – Prologue victory in Dauphine Libere.
- July – Finishes fourth in Tour de France prologue in London behind Swiss winner Fabian Cancellara but his team, Cofidis, later withdraw after team-mate Cristian Moreni fails a drugs test.
- 2008: January – Wiggins’ estranged father, Gary Wiggins, is discovered unconscious in New South Wales and later dies.
- March – Wins individual pursuit, team pursuit and Madison gold at Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester.
- August 16 – Successfully defends Olympic individual pursuit title with gold at the Laoshan Velodrome.
- August 18 – Olympic team pursuit gold alongside Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas and Paul Manning in a world record of three minutes 53.314 seconds.
- August 19 – Favourite for Olympic Madison alongside Mark Cavendish but ninth-placed finish results in Manxman suffering the ignominy of being the only member of GB’s track team to leave the Laoshan Velodrome without a medal and has a public falling-out with Wiggins.
- October – Releases autobiography titled ‘In Pursuit of Glory’ detailing his struggle with alcohol after Athens Games.
- 2009: July – Secures fourth place in Tour de France, matching highest-ever placing by a British rider.
- September – Wins British Time-Trial Championship.
- October – Wins stage five time-trial and overall title at Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Australia.
- December 10 – Signs four-year deal with Team Sky, the BSkyB-backed road team which is being led by British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford.
- 2010: February 7 – Makes Team Sky debut at Tour of Qatar, helping squad to victory in the race’s opening team time-trial.
- March – Finishes third overall in the Tour of Murcia.
- May – Wins Giro d’Italia prologue to become second Briton to wear race leader’s pink jersey, the maglia rosa. The victory gives Team Sky a Grand Tour stage win at the first attempt.
- July – Finishes 24th on Team Sky’s Tour de France debut, upgraded to 23rd after Alberto Contador is stripped of the title for a doping offence.
- 2011: March – Finishes third overall in Paris-Nice stage race.
- May – Wins fourth stage of Bayern-Rundfahrt as team-mate Geraint Thomas wins overall.
- June – Wins traditional Tour de France warm-up Criterium du Dauphine. Wins British Championships road race.
- July 8 – Abandons Tour de France after fracturing collarbone in crash on seventh stage. Wiggins was sixth overall, 10 seconds behind race leader Thor Hushovd, entering the stage.
- September – Finishes third overall at the Vuelta a Espana, with Team Sky colleague Chris Froome second. Finishes second in World Championships time-trial before helping Cavendish win the road race.
- 2012: February: Wins stage five of Volta ao Algarve.
- March – Wins Paris-Nice overall, completing victory with win on stage eight.
- April – Triumphs in Tour de Romandie, winning stages one and five.
- June – Successfully defends his Criterium du Dauphine title and wins stage four time-trial for an unprecedented series of results.
- July 7 – Takes the Tour de France yellow jersey after stage seven.
- July 9 – Enhances hold on maillot jaune ahead of the first rest day with a first Tour stage win, on the stage nine time-trial to Besancon.
- July 21 – Wins the time-trial on the Tour’s penultimate day to all but secure victory.
- July 22 – Confirmed as Britain’s first-ever winner of the Tour de France.
- August 1 – Claims gold medal for Team GB at London 2012 in Olympic road time-trial.
- November 7 – Taken to hospital after a collision with a car near his home in Lancashire. Wiggins suffered bruising, a fractured rib, a bruised lung and a dislocated finger.
- December 16 – Wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, finishing ahead of second-placed Jessica Ennis and third-placed Andy Murray.
- December 28 – Awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.
