Ben Wiggins, the 19-year-old son of former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, has set the long-term goal of following in his father's footsteps and competing for Grand Tour wins later in his career.
In a candid interview with The Telegraph, Wiggins spoke in detail about growing up in the spotlight as the son of a five-time Olympic champion and Tour winner, living through the highs and lows of his father's complicated career and where he is on his own professional cycling journey.
He currently races for Hagens Berman Jayco, a development team well known for overseeing the graduation of top pro riders, and is going into his second season at the under-23 level on the team run by Axel Merckx, who is similarly the son of a cycling great, Eddy Merckx.
While his main focus is on continuing to develop as a strong time trial rider and looking to advance to the WorldTour-level next season, Ben Wiggins is confident like his father, answering "definitely" to the big question of whether the Tour de France might one day be a race he targets.
"I don't want to put any limits on myself. I'm really ambitious. That's where I want to be. But that'll be, like, probably 10 years down the line from now," Wiggins told The Telegraph.
"There's definitely a blueprint for me making it to Grand Tours in the long term, whether it's my dad or guys like G [Geraint Thomas], strong track and TT specialists who went on to contend for general classifications in Grand Tours. But that's not really my focus at the minute. We're talking much further down the line."
He's already had success in his young career, notably as a junior Madison world champion on the track and runner-up at the Road World Championships junior time trial in 2023.
In 2025, the teenager will be riding a schedule including some of the biggest Classics in their U23 versions, Paris-Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Gent-Wevelgem. With the blueprint of his father and Thomas in mind, Wiggins knows there will be room to go from an elite pursuiter and time trial racer into a Tour contender should he reach those levels.
Content under the guidance of Merckx, Wiggins trusts that his development on the US-registered team should see him enter cycling's top division in 2026, with their official WorldTour partner Jayco AlUla looking the most likely candidate to land his signature.
"I think I'm developing in a way to move to WorldTour next year. But if it doesn't happen straight away that's fine," he said. "I stagiaired for Jayco-AlUla last year and that was really good. So going there would be my first choice, I'd say at this point. But we'll see how I progress this year.
"I could win 10 races and have my choice of anywhere. But certainly, the support they've shown me early in my career, I'll definitely be giving them first dibs."
Wiggins didn't speak much about his father's ongoing situation at the moment after he faced bankruptcy and spoke out about overcoming his deep-rooted mental struggles but did say that "when everything came out in the autumn, that was kind of the beginning of his resurgence I guess."
"We speak all the time. And he's doing super good. I'm very proud of him," he said, before crediting his upbringing for preparing him for the life of a pro and the pressures that come with that as a professional athlete.
"I think, if anything, it’s taught me what to do differently, and how to manage it. I mean, no one prepares you for that level of success. But I'm incredibly lucky that I kind of feel like I would be prepared.
"But I'm not chasing fame, I’m not chasing money, I'm chasing success. They're things that come with it, aren't they? I'll deal with them if and when I make it."
