“I drank 13 pints of beer a night.” Everything you need to know about cycling king Bradley Wiggins

The owner of gorgeous sideburns, a swearer and a big drinker of alcohol won the world championship..

Childhood and relationship with father

Bradley's father, Gary Wiggins, was a promising Australian track racer who won his country's championship and performed well in the classic six-day races. But he had a violent disposition, drank a lot, fought, used and distributed dubious drugs, receiving the nickname “Doctor,” and after a couple of years his wife Linda left him, taking little Bradley to London.

Until the age of 16, the future English champion did not communicate with his father, although he followed in his footsteps, starting with cycling to Hyde Park, and then training on the London Herne Hill track. In 2008, Gary died under mysterious circumstances in New South Wales at the age of 55. The cause of death was a head injury, but the police were never able to determine whether it was murder or an accident, although Gary's sister to this day claims that her brother was severely beaten.

Bradley does not hide the fact that he had a difficult relationship with his father. Before the Sydney Olympics, Wiggins took advantage of a visit to Australia to be close to him, but an attempt to reunite the family failed. Brad left his father's house in horror because Wiggins Sr. did not hesitate to get drunk in front of him. “I was almost glad when I heard that he was dead,” Bradley wrote in his autobiography, “at least I felt better, because it was the end of the torment.” He did not come to the funeral.

At the 2012 Tour, Wiggins had to answer a question about his father. “What would he say about my success at the Tour de France if he were alive? Don't know. Depends on whether he was sober or not. He would probably be proud of me." Bradley had his own demons. “Now I don’t drink at all, but after the 2004 Olympics I practically became an alcoholic.” But that is another story.

The beginning of the way

Wiggins' career on the track developed rapidly. At the age of 20, he became the bronze medalist of the 2000 Olympics in the team pursuit, and four years later in Athens he collected a full set of medals: bronze in Madison, silver in the team pursuit and gold in the crown pursuit. Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Olympics, and was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the Queen.

He also tried his hand at highway racing, but for the time being he was only good at short power trials. Wiggins signed his first contract with the British team Linda McCartney Racing Team. She was sponsored by a vegetarian food company founded by the late wife of the legendary Beatle. As soon as Wiggins joined the team, it ceased to exist due to financial problems, and Bradley went to France, replacing three famous teams in six years: Française des Jeux, Crédit Agricole and Cofidis. The triumph at the Athens Olympics, according to Wiggins himself, had an extremely negative impact on him. He stopped following the regime, became a regular at noisy parties and drank to the point of losing consciousness everywhere.

“I thought that by winning the Olympics I would immediately become a millionaire, but that didn’t happen. I received fifteen hundred pounds a month, and we could barely pay off the loan for the apartment. I lost interest in cycling, I was fed up with everything. I would arrive at the pub when it opened and drink 12-13 pints of beer in the evening. I even managed to get enough at the airport on the way to the competition. Now I remember those times with horror,” Wiggins writes in the same autobiographical book “In the Quest for Glory.”

“Screw the Tour de France!”

By that time, Bradley had been married for a long time, and the birth of his son Ben sobered him up in every sense. Realizing that he was now responsible for more than just himself, Wiggo returned to hard training and focused on the road, knowing that he would earn more money there. In 2007, Wiggins rode the Tour for the second time as part of Cofidis, which was remembered for doping scandals, the removal of Vinokourov and leader Rasmussen from the race, as well as the arrest of the entire team due to increased testosterone levels in Christian Moreni. Brad was beside himself, threw out all the Kofidis uniforms and, while giving evidence to the police, shouted: “I have nothing to do with this! To hell with fucking cycling and your fucking Tour de France!

In 2008, Wiggins focused on track disciplines, winning almost everything he could: three golds at the World Championships (with a world record in the team pursuit), including in Madison with Mark Cavendish, and two golds at the Beijing Olympics, receiving for this the next degree of the Order of the British Empire and the title of Commander.

A year later, with Garmin, Wiggins finished fourth in the general (echoing Robert Millar's best British result in 1984). That’s when his painful transformation from a pure splitter into a multi-day rider began. Before the Tour, Wiggins lost six kilograms to improve his grip on the mountains, earning him the nickname “Twig.” Leading teams lined up for him, and after lengthy negotiations, Bradley signed a super contract with the newborn Sky project, finally receiving the financial reward that he had previously lacked (from 1 to 2 million pounds a year).

Age of Sky

At Sky, Wiggins was greeted by old friends: Team GB director Dave Brailsford, sporting director Sean Yates, who worked with Wiggins back at Linda McCartney, and head coach Shane Sutton. The Sky project was created with what seemed like a fantastic task at the time - to prepare a future winner of the Tour de France in five years, and certainly with a British passport. Wiggins entered the 2010 Tour hoping for a place in the top three, but neither he nor the team succeeded. After one of the failed stages, Wiggins, as usual, without choosing expressions, said to the camera: “I just got fucked today.”

The failure forced Sky to seriously reconsider its development strategy. From the moment of its founding, the team was not allowed to shoot anyone who was even indirectly connected with doping; there were not even doctors with experience in cycling. At the 2010 Spanish Vuelta, half the team was hit by an infection. Different riders and support staff had different symptoms and Sky doctors simply didn't know what to do. It all ended with the sudden death of Spanish masseur Chema Gonzalez, after which Sky withdrew from the race as a sign of grief for their comrade and for safety reasons. After the failure at the Tour and the death of Gonzalez, experienced doctors who had seen everything were invited to the headquarters, and the strategy became more aggressive. It was necessary to win not in five years, but right now. Sky's science department is headed by Australian Tim Kerrison, whose training program has rocked the cycling world.

Tim Kerrison and his cyborgs

Until 2010, Kerrison tested his theories with the Great Britain swimming team. “Tim completely changed my career,” Wiggins says. “It was not easy to trust his methods because he had not worked with cyclists before, but in my opinion he managed to create a revolution.” Kerrison identified the weak points of British messengers: riding in the heat, at high altitudes and on long, steep climbs. Since November, Wiggins and his squad have been training tirelessly on the Tenerife volcano, where all these conditions were met. While the guys were sweating seven times, Kerrison was compiling a database and drawing a huge number of graphs. He didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, other favorites prepare for the Tour in much the same way, it’s just that Sky forced the entire team to work at their best, without exception, and scrupulously followed the preparation program, analyzing all the data that could be collected. Kerrison insisted that Wiggins train more, reduce racing practice, and if he did go to the start line, he always went to win.

“I trained without rest,” continues Wiggins, “I tried to always be at least 97 percent ready and not stop working. Psychologically it is very difficult. I put my body through terrible pain." To better cope with mountain climbing, Twig lost another 12 kg over the course of a year.

Starting from third place at the Volta Algarve in February, Wiggins won every other stage race in which he took part (Paris-Nice, Tour of Romandie, Criterium Dauphine), ending the series with triumph on the Champs-Elysees. The concept of “peak form” does not seem to exist for him. He is always at the peak and does not think about getting off it. The talk about Sky's messengers looking like robots this season is already tired, but they are amazingly prepared: not an ounce of excess weight and devilish endurance. In the Alps and Pyrenees, Wiggins was often wheeled even by non-miners Froome, Rogers and Port. Nominal sprinter Edvald Bosson Hagen, as if nothing had happened, calmly rode up the steepest peaks, where he was supposed to barely survive. Even the thinner Cavendish coped with the passes much better than before.

Reasons for winning the 2012 Tour

First- a route suitable for Wiggins. A minimum of mountain finishes, a relatively small number of stages in the high mountains and as much as 101 km in the time trial and prologue. Bradley easily took both long time trials, lost a little to Cancellara in the prologue and won almost six minutes at these stages against the Italian's main competitor, as it turned out, Vincenzo Nibali (Froome as a teammate does not count). If you remove the time trial, Nibali lost only 23 seconds to Wiggins over 18 stages.

Second– Phenomenal teamwork from Sky. The point is not even that partner Chris Froome ascended to the second step of the podium - the whole team acted as a single mechanism for three weeks. The black and blue Sky train lined up in front of Wiggins at all stages, setting the pace for the peloton. It is not surprising that Wiggins never found himself in a crisis - he never had to catch up with anyone on his own. Moreover, Sky found an opportunity in between to accelerate the regular sprinter Cavendish three times to the finish line. Not as much as he would like, but the world has never seen anything like this from the team guarding the yellow jersey. Wiggins' victory was far from the brightest in the century-long history of the Tour, but there has never been such a strong team.

Third- failure of competitors. Sky simply did not have a worthy opponent. 2011 Tour winner Cadel Evans was poor in the time trial and didn't make it in the Pyrenees. Nibali was content with third place. Jurgen van den Broeck agreed to the fourth, the French still have a shortage of general managers, although there are promising young people in the person of Rolland and Pinot, our Denis Menshov turned out to be uncompetitive in the mountains, the rest of the favorites for various reasons either did not start or did not reach the Paris.

Chris Froome - the man from nowhere

By the middle of the Tour, it became clear: only Froome is capable of taking the yellow jersey from Wiggins, but for this it was necessary to ignore the chain of command. After a moment of doubt, Chris always followed the instructions from the Sky technical equipment, and a couple of attempts to move ahead from the captain turned out to be a game for the public: they say, if it were my will, I would fight for the overall victory. “It’s good that Chris is on my team, otherwise I would have to constantly fight with him. Perhaps the day will come when he will no longer help me, but I will help him,” admitted Wiggins.

Idols

Like almost all English boys, as a child Bradley was crazy about football and dreamed of being like Tottenham striker Gary Lineker. “Everyone wants to become a football player,” his mother told him, “and you will make a good cyclist.” When Wiggins was 12, he was amazed by Chris Boardman's victory at the Barcelona Olympics, and the choice in favor of a bicycle was finally made. Back then, Bradley could not have imagined that six years later Boardman would become his coach. “I hated being bossed around, but Boardman taught me discipline,” Brad recalls.

As soon as Bradley started cycling, a poster of five-time Tour winner Miguel Indurain appeared on the wall of his room. Even now, as a mature racer, Wiggins delights in bragging about his unexpected gift from the Spanish legend. “During the Tour, Indurain recorded a video message for me. He said he believed in me and wished me luck.”

Interests

Wiggins is perhaps the most famous follower of the mod subculture in modern British sport. The mod movement's popularity waned in the '70s, but there are weirdos like Wiggins who still actively cultivate it today. Wiggins carefully monitors his appearance, brought back the fashion for sideburns in England, prefers scooters to any means of transportation (except a bicycle, of course), and has an impressive collection of guitars, and plays them very well himself. Here are ten of the Tour de France winner's favorite tracks:

The Stone Roses – Don't Stop

The Smiths – This Charming Man

Oasis-Supersonic

Ocean Color Scene – Riverboat Song

Paul Weller – Changing Man

Oasis – Wonderwall

The Jam – In the City

The Jam – The Butterfly Collector

Small Faces – Happy Days- Toytown

The Who – Heatwave.

Wiggins's wife Kat shares her husband's hobbies and even promised, if he succeeds at the Tour, to run naked through Paris, covering her private parts only with the circular emblems of the British Air Force, which were adopted by fashion, but since nothing was heard about this action, apparently, Bradley talked her out of it.

Actions during the Tour de France

In the early days of the Tour, Twig categorically refused to speak French. No one would demand this from an Englishman, but Wiggins played for French teams for six years and is fluent in the main language of the Tour. When it became obvious that he was certain to win, the French media quietly started talking to the Englishman.

After stage 8, Wiggins was asked: “What would you say to those who think it’s impossible to win the Tour de France without doping?” Twig's colorful response contained almost every swear word in the English language. The point was that it is easy for those who have not achieved anything in life to sit on the Internet and criticize racers. Sky management supported their captain, but apparently they explained to him the need to choose expressions. A few days later, Wiggins spoke out much more correctly, agreeing that the reputation of cycling obliges leaders not only to regularly take doping tests, but also to answer unpleasant questions.

Wiggins crossed the finish line of the 10th stage, turning towards Nibali. The Italian was offended, interpreting this as a sign of disdain: look, they say, how I made you. The next day, Wiggins and Nibali finished together, shaking hands, and from that moment on they spoke of each other with marked respect.

When, on stage 14, riders began to puncture one after another due to nails scattered along the road, Wiggins behaved like Armstrong at the peak of his glory, when the American's authority was so high that he could dictate his will to the entire peloton. Realizing that main competitor Evans was far behind for non-sporting reasons, the Sky captain convinced the group to wait for the laggards.

Having won the Tour, Twig did not rest on his laurels and “took” the home Olympics in the time trial race. On August 1, at the walls of the former royal residence of Hampton Court, he was greeted by such crowds as the English kings had never dreamed of. By the way, everything is going to the point that Wiggins’ collection of state awards will be replenished with another order at the end of the year, which will mean receiving a knighthood for him.

) is a British track and road cyclist who competes for Team Sky. Wiggins is a four-time Olympic champion, three times on the track and once on the road, and a six-time world champion on the track.

Biography

Bradley Wiggins was the first child of Australian cyclist Gary Wiggins and his English wife Linda. Born in Belgium, Bradley grew up in London with his brother Ryan. There, at age 12, he began racing at the Herne Hill velodrome. At the end of 2004, Wiggins got married in Manchester, and is raising a son and daughter with his wife, living in Lancashire

Career

In 1997, Wiggins won the pursuit race at the junior championship, the most successful discipline for him in his adult career. At the Sydney Olympics, he became a bronze medalist as part of the British team pursuit quartet. In early 2001, Wiggins signed a contract with the Linda McCartney Racing Team, but the vegetarian project fell apart almost immediately. From the next season, the Briton played for French teams. At the Athens Olympics, Wiggins won a medal of each category, winning the pursuit race. He became the first Briton in 40 years to win 3 medals at the same Games. At the New Year's Royal Honours, Wiggins was made an Officer of the British Empire. At the 2008 World Track Cycling Championships, Bradley, who had won three previous golds, doubled his collection by winning, in addition to the individual and team pursuits, also the Madison with Mark Cavendish. He managed to repeat his first two results at the Olympics (in the team race, Wiggins and his comrades broke the world record), but the duet with Cavendish became only 9th. At the end of the year, the Queen granted Bradley the title of Commander.

At the end of the Beijing Olympics, Wiggins finally switched from track to road racing.

In 2012, Wiggins was focused on preparing for the Tour de France, although he had no intention of sacrificing the London Olympics, which would start a week after finishing in Paris. In the spring, he won all 3 World Tour stage races where he started. From stage 7 onwards, Bradley rode the yellow jersey in the Tour de France; at the 9th stage he won the time trial for the first time; at the 19th stage, also in the time trial, he repeated his success and guaranteed victory in the general classification. Stronger in the mountains, Gregg Wiggins Froome held his own and stayed close to the captain at key stages to eventually finish second.

Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider in history to win the Tour de France.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Team Great Britain was considered the favorite in both the group race and the individual race. In the group race, Wiggins was one of the carriers for Mark Cavendish, but the British team let the breakaway group go too far and were unable to catch him at the finish. In the individual time trial, Wiggins, who started second from last, confidently won the race, beating Tony Martin by 42 seconds. Wiggins had the honor of participating in the opening ceremony of the Olympics, where he came out in a yellow jersey, greeted the audience and rang the giant bell to start the opening ceremony of the games.

After his gold at the home Olympics in 2012, he became the owner of 7 Olympic medals, and in terms of the number of these awards he is the most titled representative of Great Britain, surpassing Steve Redgrave in this indicator. Later, his former track partner equaled him in the number of Olympic medals -

Born in Ghent, Belgium, where residents are surprised when a football player is chosen as the athlete of the year rather than a cyclist. "R-Sport" talks about a guy who broke the hour record on the track on June 7, where he returned, having won everything he could on the road. He did it in memory of the bad times and with the thought of ending with dignity a career that is perhaps the most memorable in modern Olympic cycling. And Sir Bradley himself is a character who deserves everyone's attention.

Childhood

Wiggins is a hereditary cyclist. His father Harry is an Australian track champion and competitor in the famous six-day race, whom his son would prefer not to know.

“When I found out that my father died, I was almost happy about it. At least the torment has come to an end.” Wiggins did not fly to his father's funeral. There were many reasons for this: Wiggins Sr. drank a lot, distributed illegal substances, fought, constantly found himself in trouble and finally lost the respect of others, as well as his family. As a result, Bradley and his mother Linda ended up in London. In 2000, Wiggins tried to make peace with Harry before the Sydney Games, but nothing worked out, and he was forced to literally run away from his father’s house, promising himself never to return.

“I don’t even know what he would say if he learned about my victory at the Tour.” Depends on whether he was sober or not. He would probably be proud of me.”

First bike

Wiggins got his first professional bicycle at the age of 12, paying for it with a broken collarbone. He received the most common injury in the peloton in a road accident, “cut down” 1.7 thousand pounds in compensation - he gave 700 to his mother, and spent the rest on the purchase of his first road bike. “Then I told my teacher at school: “I want to become an Olympic champion and win the Tour de France.” Very soon he became a member of the cycling club for which his father once competed, and more than 20 years later he realized his dream.

Problems with alcohol

Everyone knows about Sir Bradley's addiction to alcohol. In his biography, he admits how, in record time, he decided to taste 365 varieties of Belgian beer. In London, at the official party, he celebrated the gold of the Games by raising a glass of gin, which caused concern among those gathered, because everyone knew that victory at the Olympics had already entailed a huge binge in the past.

“I thought that by winning in Athens I would immediately become a millionaire, but that didn’t happen. I received fifteen hundred pounds a month, and we barely scraped together to pay the rent. I wanted to send everything to hell. I would go to the pub and drink 12-13 pints of beer a night. I even managed to get drunk at the airport when we were flying to the competition.”

“I just got fucked today”

This is what Wiggins told reporters at the 2010 Tour, when he could not compete for a place in the top 3. Both before and after, Bradley pleased the media with strong statements. He refused to speak French on the “Great Loop”, although he speaks fluent in this language, he can well say that all the “separators” are a little out of their minds, despite the fact that the super-adequate Tony Martin is sitting next to him.

Well, how do you like it? “It's like trying to win the Champions League, but when you want to win it you go to Manchester United, and I'm playing for Wigan now,” Wiggins said on Tour while racing for Garmin. “In fact, I shouldn’t have said all this then. My wife is from Wigan and it wasn't that bad until they lost to Tottenham. Besides, after I said this, they beat Chelsea. So that was a bad analogy and I'm probably better off choosing another team. Be that as it may, now I’m at Manchester United,” he admitted later, already “playing” for Sky.

In addition, there is a video so that you understand how Bradley Wiggins spends time with journalists.

How to anger a knight

There's one surefire way to get under Wiggins's skin: asking if it's possible to win the Tour without doping. In response, a whole stream of profanity will certainly pour out at you - he has it very diverse. Bradley was generally sensitive to the whole situation around Lance Armstrong and admitted that he watched Lance’s interview with Oprah Winfrey live.

“I was 13 when he won the world championship in Oslo. Then he was diagnosed with cancer, but he came back and won the Tour in 1999, I was 19 years old. I remember it was so inspiring to see what he went through, after all those photos while he was battling cancer, and then winning the Tour... Part of me didn't want to see that interview.

“It’s all very difficult to explain to my son how it’s possible, Lance won the same race as his father, but at the end of it all I had the best feeling in the world. It happened when Armstrong started talking about how "That he had to explain everything to his 13-year-old son. I'll never have that conversation with my kid because his dad won the Tour while being clean," Wiggins said.

A few months after Armstrong's controversial interview, Wiggins even transferred his children to another school. “They started to harass them with questions: “Is your dad doping too? He won the Tour! Is he the same as Armstrong?”

Life after Champs Elysees

“I was simultaneously trying to get used to the idea that I had just won the Tour de France and somehow get myself together - there were 5 days left before the time trial at the Olympics. I insisted that I would go home... The day after I returned, people started knocking on the door of my house... It was actually very strange to return home after four weeks and find that everything had changed. I underestimated the scale of what had happened... The next day, when I went out to buy milk and bread, I was again surrounded by a crowd. And the same thing happened when I took my son Ben to rugby training.

Who's ringing the bell

But that's not all. Before the start of the time trial, Wiggins became a special guest at the Olympic opening ceremony. He had to ring the bell.

“Before the Olympics, Dave Brailsford called me from Newport, from the track training camp, and said: “Listen, they want you to ring the bell at the opening ceremony. It's huge, you can't refuse. This will be shown all over the world!” Even now I can't fully comprehend it all... Dave and I walked into the stadium. I stood backstage in a yellow T-shirt, listening to everything that was happening on headphones... Then someone said: “Okay, Bradley, come out in two seconds.”... I walked onto the stage, stood at the place marked with a cross and greeted the audience. I saw only a sea of ​​flashes, the sounds came through earplugs. He could only record his own breathing.

Everything is fine. Turn around, go to the bell, stand next to it and wait for the command.

I rang the bell, went down the steps and left the stadium... I had never been in public except in my native village, I was not met at the airport, I did not go anywhere except home and the team hotel. I lived as if under a hood. Therefore, when I was waiting to enter the stadium, I asked a volunteer: “Aren’t they going to boo me or something like that?”

Awards and title

Wiggins admits that he still hasn't found himself in this very successful story since 2012, when he won the Tour and the home Olympics. He doesn't even know what to do with the medals. “My Pekingese are in my socks upstairs in my house. Funny little things - medals. It will be nice to leave them to my children when I die, but right now I just really have no idea what to do with them.”

And this is not to mention the fact that he was seriously planning to renounce the knighthood.

“During the Games there was speculation about whether I would receive a knighthood like Sir Chris Hoy once did. People asked if I would accept it, but I never imagined myself as Sir Bradley Wiggins. I never considered myself superior to anyone, I always struggled with any hierarchy and difference in status. I don't know why, maybe it has something to do with my background, but I was always ready to play second fiddle. You see, this doesn't happen to the kids from Kilburn. My grandfather George replaced my father after my mother and I moved in with him and my grandmother. I remember asking my grandmother after the Games: “What do you think, if I was offered a knighthood and I refused, how would George react?” She immediately replied: “He will never talk to you again.”

Sir Bradley Wiggins is also one of the most famous followers of the mod subculture. It was he who brought back the fashion for sideburns in England. But the most important thing in his fashion value system is a reverent attitude towards music. He himself plays the guitar very well, which he demonstrated when he performed on stage with Paul Weller from the Jam.

2015-...

Wiggins' collection of titles grew slowly but surely over the course of his career. He is a four-time Olympic champion and six-time world track champion. At the end of 2014, Wiggo also acquired the rainbow jersey of the world champion on the road. Now his goal is an Olympic medal in Rio. Yes, Bradley is returning to the track, and it’s not so easy, because no one will put him on the team for his previous merits. Will he be able to win another Olympic gold? Be that as it may, his path to these Games was very long, difficult, but very successful. So much so that he finally allowed himself to dream about victory at Paris-Roubaix. “My attack with Zep Vanmarcke looked as doomed as the scene with the sinking Titanic, but you know, I'm glad I tried and tried. This is what I have dreamed about since childhood. I know for sure that a moment will come when it will be so nice to tell my son: “Your dad at some point, albeit for a short time, was still a leader at Paris-Roubaix.”

Christopher Hoy was born on March 23, 1976 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Like many boys, Christopher began riding a bicycle from childhood, however, unlike his friends, he did not just ride through the streets, but began to engage in cycling. He was only six years old when he firmly decided to become a cyclist. As a teenager, Hoy competed in BMX racing, reaching some great heights - Hoy was ranked second among juniors in Britain, fifth in Europe and ninth in the world. In addition to BMX, the athletic and versatile Christopher Hoy played rugby with enthusiasm and was even a member of his school’s national team.

At the age of 14, Christopher Hoy began competing on the cycling track, and in 1994 he finally... is finally determined and his only interest becomes track cycling. BMX is left behind.

Focusing on two types of track riding - the 1 km round and the team sprint - Christopher achieved early success, and it was in these disciplines that he received most of his awards.

In 2004, Hoy won his first Olympic medal, becoming the champion in the 1 km round. After this, the cyclist begins to expand his specialization, taking part in a new type of sprint competition - keirin. Tactically, the move was very correct - after all, the athlete already knew that in his “crown” discipline - the 1 km round - he was not entered to participate in the Beijing Olympics. The first big success in keirin came in 2007 - it turned out to be a gold medal at the World Championships in Spain. At the same championship he won another major victory in the 1 km round.

In 2008, Hoy began to make progress in one of the most prestigious types of the track program - match sprint, winning two gold trophies at the World Championships in Manchester - for keirin and for mastered match sprint. The peak of Christopher Hoy's sports career was the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, from which the cyclist brought home three gold medals. Luck smiled on him in the team sprint (teamed with Jason Kenny and Jimmy Staff), the keirin and the match sprint. Although, of course, you won’t win Olympic gold by luck alone – behind these victories are sometimes backbreaking training, the ability to concentrate, and, of course, willpower and the desire to win. In the 2008-09 season. Christopher Hoy did not appear in the first four stages of the World Cup, and only at the final stage in Copenhagen did he take part in the races. On the first day, as part of the Team Sky+HD team, Hoy won gold in the team sprint. Unfortunately, a fall in the final keirin race did not give Hoi the opportunity to complete his performances, and also knocked him out of participation in the World Championships in Pruszkow, where he would have been a real contender for three gold medals.

The Chimp Paradox:

The Mind Management Program

to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness

Copyright © Dr Steve Peters 2012

Illustrations © Dr Steve Peters and Jeff Battista 2012

First published as The Chimp Paradox by Vermilion, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, a Random House Company

Translation Yulia Ryabinina

about the author

“I don’t think I could have realized my potential without Steve.”

Victoria Pendleton

“If it weren’t for Steve, I don’t think I would have won gold in Athens in 2004.”

Sir Chris Hoy

"Steve Peters is a genius."

Dave Brailsford, British Cycling National Competitions Director and Head of Sky ProCycling.

Dr Steve Peters is a consultant psychiatrist who has worked in clinical psychiatry for over 20 years. He is educated in mathematics and medicine and is involved in advanced training in sports medicine, education and psychiatry.

Since 1994, Dr Peters has been a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield and is a Curator in its Medical School, as well as a member of the Royal College Examination Committee.

In addition, Dr. Peters works in the field of elite sports. Since 2001 he has been the staff psychiatrist for the British cycling team and now also for the professional team Team Sky. His self-management techniques have gained popularity for helping to improve the performance of British cycling's elite and contributing to the winning of 14 Beijing Olympic gold medals, 8 of which were gold.

Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton have publicly stated that Dr. Peters' unique "Chimp Model" helped them improve their athletic performance. In addition, Dr Peters consults with 12 other Olympic sports, including taekwondo and canoeing, as well as English rugby and Premier League football players.

In addition, Dr. Peters works with business leaders, senior executives, healthcare providers, patients, and university students to help them understand why they think and act the way they do and how to manage their own minds to optimize your work and personal life.

The Chimpanzee Model, developed by Dr. Peters, can help a person in any field. The Chimpanzee Paradox brings Dr. Peters' work to a wider audience for the first time, and the author hopes that it will benefit every reader.

Introduction
Heading towards the Sun

Book

This book was written to help you understand how your mind works and to provide a model for self-improvement and improvement in all aspects of your life.

My work as a psychiatrist and lecturer causes me to hear a number of common questions and comments from people. These questions usually center around personal problems that they cannot understand or solve.

Here are some common examples:

How do I…

Become the person I would like to be?

Gain self-confidence?

Become happy?

Improve my personal relationships?

Become more organized and successful in your business?

Maintain your motivation?

Become a more efficient worker?

Why me…

Feeling so anxious?

Do I have such a low opinion of myself?

Do you constantly feel like I'm being judged?

Do I often act contrary to my common sense?

Do I sometimes start to think so irrationally?

Do I experience such mood swings?

Am I allowing my emotions to prevent me from realizing my full professional potential?

Why can't I...

Stop worrying about what others think of me?

Decisions?

Contain your anger?

Dealing with unpleasant people?

Stop overeating?

Stay faithful?

Stop abusing alcohol?

This list goes on and on!

What can this book offer you?

She can help you:

Understand how your mind works.

Understand yourself and others.

Manage your thoughts and emotions.

Improve your quality of life.

Become happier and more successful in business.

Increase your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Identify what is blocking or preventing you from living a happier, more successful life.

The path to self-knowledge and development

Our journey through this book will take you through seven major areas of your psychology, helping you understand yourself and others. These are the following areas:

Your inner thinking.

Other people.

Communications.

The world you live in.

Maintaining your health.

Happiness.

A simple way to view these realms is to think of them as the seven different planets of the “Psychological Universe” that you are embarking on a journey through. This way you can visit every planet and work there for the betterment of your Universe. Strictly speaking, it is the Solar System, but “Universe” sounds a little more meaningful.

Psychological Universe

The Sun in this system represents the place where you are trying to get to. Obviously, if you put all the planets in order, the Sun will shine!

As you can see, the first planet has to do with your inner thinking. It is this planet that is most important to put in order.

Chimpanzee model

The workings of your inner mind are complex, but can be explained using a simple model called the Chimpanzee Model, which:

Designed to help you understand and control your mind.

Based on comprehensive scientific evidence.

It is neither a theory nor a strict scientific fact. It is a rough working model.

Contains both concepts and facts.

It's funny and yet has very serious aspects.

Preparing for your trip

To prepare for your trip, let's first cover some important points:

It is necessary to strive for change and accept it

In order to change or become a better person, you must notice that you are not always functioning the way you would like, because you are not always the person you would like to be, or you are not always able to control your emotions, your thoughts or actions. You must have the will to deal with it and you must be willing to accept change.

It is important to understand what can be changed and what cannot be changed

There are things that you have to accept about yourself, and there are things that you don’t have to accept at all. It is very important to distinguish between the two. For example, you may not be able to get rid of the need for nutrition, sexual urges, or automatic feelings of panic or anxiety that arise when you are exposed to danger or stress. However, you can control them. Examples of things you can let go of include unhelpful, irrational or negative thoughts and destructive behaviors such as self-blame or violent outbursts.

You need to understand the difference between real and unrealistic dreams

You must understand what is possible and what is not. For example, you can become healthy and slim, gain self-confidence, or improve personal relationships. But it is impossible, for example, to be happy all the time or to be liked by everyone.

Please understand that this book is about developing skills.

Managing your emotions and thoughts is a skill. You must be willing to devote some time to developing emotional skills and maintaining them.

Don't forget you have a choice

In life you always have a choice. To achieve success and happiness, it is very important to understand this and make your choice.

Hitting the road

As we begin our journey, you may find that some parts of the book resonate with you more than others. Choose the parts that suit you and work with them.

So let's begin our journey and head towards the Sun.