Tour de France and Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins claimed to have been groomed by a cycling coach as a teenager.

"I was groomed by a coach when I was young, when I was about 13, and I never fully accepted it," Wiggins explained in an interview.

In excerpts from the interview, he admitted that the grooming was sexual in nature, but did not give further information about the alleged coach or his specific background. He did reveal that it had a significant impact on his adult life.

"Growing up, everything affected me. ...... I buried it," he said. His relationship with his stepfather was problematic and often violent. [My stepfather was quite violent with me and would call me a "fuck" for wearing lycra.

Wiggins also discussed his relationship with his biological father, Australian cyclist Gary Wiggins, who was murdered in 2008.

"He left when I was very young, so I first met him when I was 18. He was my hero." [He was my hero. He was a good cyclist. He was an alcoholic, manic-depressive, pretty violent, and he was taking a lot of amphetamines and [sports] drugs at the time."

Wiggins further elaborated on his mental state, explaining his depression. 'I need routine work,' he said. It's important to work out every day. It's also important not to drink too much. ...... With depression, if you don't take care of yourself, you're going to have manic-like symptoms."

He also revealed that he suffered from attention and fame after winning the 2012 Tour de France. 'Life was never the same again. I was thrust into the fame and accolades that come with success," Wiggins said.

"I'm an introverted, private person. That's why I put on the veil of a rock star. That wasn't the real me. ...... It was probably the most unhappy time of my life."

Bradley Wiggins told "Talking Heads" columnist Alastair Campbell in the May issue of Men's Health (open in new tab), April 20.