Wiggins: Landis "took us riders for fools"

By Susan Westemeyer

Bradley Wiggins of Cofidis is ashamed of his sport. "After last year's Tour de France I didn't feel proud to be a professional cyclist," he told the Daily Mirror. "And I feel the same now. Doping problems affect everyone in the peloton," noted the 26 year-old. "I've got children, a wife and a house and I could lose my livelihood because someone who tests positive finishes ahead of me. It's about time someone had some balls and told it how it was. There are enough of us who think the way I do."

"They say it's only one or two but I'm sure more people are doing these things. So it's my role as a role-model to expose it and not pretend it isn't happening," he continued. "I don't think it's right I should come up in front of everyone and put up a smokescreen and say everybody is OK and there are only one or two people doing this. My big motivation this year is to prove that you can win clean."

He was particularly upset at Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, who tested positive for testosterone. "I was really angry with Landis. It sickens me. He tested positive and then he was denying it. He took us riders for fools."

Wiggins finished 124th in the 2006 Tour while helping teammates Ivan Parra, Cristian Moreni and Sylvain Chavanel. Amongst his palmarès are three medals for Great Britain at the 2004 Olympic Games.