Bradley Wiggins has told Cyclingnews that he has plans to release a new and potentially explosive documentary in 2022.
The film, which Wiggins says could be called '10 Years After Yellow', will focus on the last 10 years of his life and comes after 'A year in Yellow', which was released on the back of his 2012 Tour de France victory.
Since then, Wiggins has reformed himself as a television pundit on Eurosport, run a domestic cycling team, and adjusted to life outside of the pressures of professional cycling. He remains very much in the spotlight and part of the British psyche, and only last week tabloid papers in England published photos of the former Olympic star smoking a cigarette, under the impression that it was actually news.
However, the former Team Sky leader also faced questions after the hacking group Fancy Bears revealed that he had availed of Therapeutic Use Exemptions to take the corticosteroid triamcinolone acetonide - ordinarily banned in competition - ahead of the 2011 and 2012 Tours and the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
A further hit to his reputation and those of British Cycling and Team Sky came when the Daily Mail revealed that in 2011 that a package had been sent from British Cycling’s base in Manchester to the Critérium du Dauphiné. It was alleged but never proven that the package was for Wiggins and that it contained triamcinolone. Wiggins has always denied those allegations, claiming that a source for the story and a subsequent parliamentary inquiry was set up to 'destroy' him.
The aftershocks from that story are still rumbling on to this day, with Richard Freeman, the doctor at the centre of the story, fighting for his reputation after being struck off the medical register. Wiggins has already called for a further investigation into the package of testosterone Freeman ordered to British Cycling’s Manchester velodrome in 2011, and Freeman faces fresh charges from UK Anti Doping over the matter.
Wiggins admits that complete closure may never be possible but, when discussing whether he was still in contact with certain members of his former cycling entourage, he told Cyclingnews that he held no grudges.
"I continue to be myself and just be me. I can’t have any bitterness or resentment. I’d rather just be me," he said.
"I’m not going to cast aspersions on people. I know what I did and I know how I conducted myself. I know that doesn’t help anyone in terms of getting somewhere but one thing that I’ve learned and one thing that I’m studying at the moment is that people don’t very often get away with things in life. You can’t twist the fucking fabric of reality in life to that extent and get away with it. Things come back to you and with a due process I hope that it’s not over yet.
"We might never know [what happened – ed], but I can’t live in a time warp and be bitter about it. I’ve just got to continue what I do, and enjoy it. I can’t walk around begrudging people and being bitter. It’s not my highest priority. It’s not healthy.
"When you think about the Freeman thing, we found out at the first hearing that they were guilty of the patches [testosterone gels – ed]. There are about 15 people that they were claimed to be for and about three or four toilets that they’ve been down since. We found out the same things a few months ago and I called for more things, and it’s all gone quiet again, so we still don’t know who they were for.
"I think that there’s another independent inquiry, and hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of it. It will be nice to have some closure for everyone. It’s Disneyland really. We don’t know much more than we did in 2016."
Wiggins is currently involved with Eurosport’s coverage of the Giro d’Italia and provides the broadcaster with daily insight and analysis. It’s a role he has matured into over the last couple of years and his screen time is set to increase, with the former Tour winner to rekindle his working relationship with John Dower, who directed the 2013 release, 'A Year in Yellow' and who was behind the camera for the much-loved documentary 'The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop'.
"We’re going to do a follow-up with John Dower," Wiggins told Cyclingnews. "We did 'A Year in Yellow', obviously, and it’s 10 years next year so we’re going to revisit that really. There’s been a boom in cycling in the last 10 years but it will be nice to go back as a different person.
"We’ve done a pilot for it and a lot of happened over the last couple of years. It will be nice to finally be able to talk about that and maybe show some stuff that shows how crazy it all got. That’s the running script at the moment, when it gets released, that’s going to be next year. I don’t know what the working title is but maybe 'Life after yellow'."
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