Bradley Wiggins has placed two of his companies into liquidation, with debts of more than one million pounds, after the closure of the Team Wiggins Continental squad.
According to a detailed report by Cycling Weekly and business information published online by the United Kingdom’s registrar of companies, Wiggins Rights Ltd - set up to "exploit Wiggins’s name and image rights" - has entered liquidation with debts of more than £650,000.
New Team Cycling Ltd, used to own and manage Team Wiggins between 2015 and 2019, has also recently been wound-up with debts of £587,008.
Wiggins rode for Team Wiggins in 2015 and 2016 after ending his WorldTour career with Team Sky, his presence helping secure invitations to the Dubai Tour, the Tour of California and the Tour of Britain. However, the team never secured a major sponsor, with Wiggins reportedly investing a significant amount of his own money into the team. The likes of James Knox, Jon Dibben, Owain Doull and Tom Pidcock all rode for Team Wiggins before it closed after the 2019 season.
Wiggins has recently been working for Eurosport and GCN as a racing pundit.
According to statements filed at Companies House, creditors left to try to recoup costs include 101 Ride Limited – the parent company of the company that was used to run Team Wiggins – cycling agent and management company Trinity, bike brand Pinarello, and Vitus Pro Cycling rider Dan Tullett.
Wiggins Rights Limited is controlled by Bradley Wiggins, with his wife Cath, whom he split from earlier this year, and his mother each owning a one per cent share.
Wiggins Rights Limited has debts of £654,657 and the statement of affairs, signed by Cath in September, said it expects to get back only £600,695 from a directors loan of £760,373, issued several years earlier. The statement of affairs said it expected the creditors to the company will be left £53,962 out of pocket as the recovery of other book debts was "uncertain".
New Team Cycling Limited owes its creditors a total of £587,008 and, according to the statement of affairs, the creditors are unlikely to recoup the amounts.
The single biggest creditor is its parent company 101 Ride Limited, which is owed £366,000. It also owes HM Revenue and Customs £57,344 and Trinity Sports Management £81,621. Trinity oversaw the running of Team Wiggins during its lifetime.
New Team Cycling Limited also owes £16,710.63 to bike brand Pinarello. The Italian marquee supplied the bikes to Team Wiggins from 2015 to 2019.
A spokesman told Cycling Weekly that Wiggins is still solvent and is working with HMRC.
"Whilst the closure of both businesses is regretful, it must be made clear that Bradley’s involvement was not day to day," the spokesman said.
"Experienced professionals were trusted to run both the financial and operational elements of the businesses. It must also be made clear that an investigation into lost assets is still under way. For clarity this in no way affects Bradley’s personal solvency."
In July, the British High Court dismissed a bankruptcy petition request brought against Wiggins by HMRC. In a five-minute hearing, judge Daniel Schaffer explained that Wiggins’s lawyers had met representatives from HMRC to come up with a solution.
