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maltatoday SATURDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2016 Sport 50 WIGGINS bows out as the proud owner of eight Olympic medals - a national record that includes five golds - and became the first Briton to win the Tour de France when he claimed the yellow jersey in 2012. The 36-year-old posted a valedic- tory statement on his Instagram page on Wednesday afternoon, ac- companying a picture of his collect- ed race jerseys, medals and trophies. In it, he said: "2016 is the end of the road for this chapter, onwards and upwards, 'feet on the ground, head in the clouds' kids from Kilburn don't win Olympic Golds and Tour de Frances! They do now." Wiggins, who conquered his sport on the road as well as in the velo- drome, won his fifth Olympic gold in Rio this year as part of the world record-breaking pursuit team, add- ing to a tally that also includes a sil- ver and two bronzes. He competed in five successive Games from Sydney 2000 and reached a career high in 2012 when he completed an unprecedented double of a maiden Tour de France victory with Team Sky and a home Olympic triumph in the time-trial in London. His retirement message read: "I have been lucky enough to live a dream and fulfil my childhood aspi- ration of making a living and a ca- reer out of the sport I fell in love with at the age of 12. I've met my idols and ridden with and alongside the best for 20 years. "I have worked with the world's best coaches and managers who I will always be grateful to for their support. What will stick with me forever is the support and love from the public though thick and thin, all as a result of riding a pushbike for a living. 2012 blew my mind and was a gas. "Cycling has given me everything and I couldn't have done it without the support of my wonderful wife Cath and our amazing kids." British Cycling president Bob Howden told Press Association Sport that Wiggins' achievements transcended sport's traditional pa- rameters, making him a culturally significant figure. "Eight Olympic medals and a first British win in the Tour de France are just part of the captivating story of a cycling legend, as few sports people have had the impact on life in this country as Sir Bradley Wiggins," he said. "He retires as one of British sport's great champions, not just for the medals and the sheer diversity of races he won but also for the way in which he used his achievements to inspire so many people to become active by getting on their bikes. Brit- ish Cycling has much to thank him for and we wish him success with his future plans." Retirement this year had long been anticipated for Wiggins, but last month he won the Ghent Six Day alongside Mark Cavendish and sug- gested he may continue. That race, alongside his long-time partner and in the city of his birth, will now go down as the last triumph in a long list of achievements that also includes eight World Champi- onship wins, four Commonwealth Games silvers and, in 2015, the world Hour record. But his departure comes at a time when cycling is once again under the microscope of anti-doping agen- cies and his own use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) has caused significant debate. It was revealed in September that Wiggins received three TUEs for an otherwise banned substance ahead of three Grand Tours, including the 2012 Tour. Wiggins and Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford insist triamci- nolone was medically necessary for a pollen allergy which aggravates his asthma and the TUEs were ap- proved by cycling's world governing body, the UCI. On the same Instagram page that bears his farewell is a mocked-up picture of Wiggins as Braveheart with the legend "They can never take my package!!". That is an apparent reference to a delivery made to Team Sky when Wiggins was competing at the 2011 Dauphine Libere, a key Tour de France warm-up race. The contents have been subject to a UK Anti- Doping investigation into alleged ''wrongdoing''. Brailsford told a Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee last week the package contained fluimucil, an over-the- counter decongestant available in- expensively in France. All parties deny breaking any rules. Shane Sutton, the former British Cycling team director and a close associate of Wiggins, appeared at the same hearing as Brailsford and provided a passionate defence of both the rider and the wider Team Sky programme. ''Knowing the kid (Wiggins) for many, many years as far as I'm con- cerned he never worked outside any rules," Sutton told MPs. Reacting to Wiggins' retirement on Sky Sports News, Australian Sut- ton reflected on his friend's greatest triumphs. "To win in the Tour is the dream for everybody, and a win in the Tour is probably his greatest victory, there's no two ways about that," he said. "There's that many (successes) but the one Bradley adores the most is probably his world time trial cham- pionship (in 2014). "That was one that was missing from the palmares (honours) and that was the one he always wanted. He got there and he'll look back on that as probably one of the big ones for him." CYCLING Sir Bradley Wiggins retires Sir Bradley Wiggins has retired from competitive cycling after one of the most remarkable careers in British sporting history Wiggins in numbers 1 - Wiggins was the first Briton to win the Tour de France with his victory in 2012. 5 - Major stage race general classification wins on the road. 8 - Wiggins has won more Olympic medals than any other Briton, with his haul of eight including five golds. 13 - combined titles at the Olympics and UCI Track World Championships. 4:15.031 - Wiggins' Olympic record time in the 2008 individual pursuit. 3:50.265 - his team's world record time in winning Olympic team pursuit gold at Rio 2016. 3,496.9 - the number of kilometres raced in Wiggins' 2012 Tour de France victory. 6 - major victories for Wiggins' eponymous development team in their first season in 2015. 2012 - Wiggins' annus mirabilis, in which he won the Tour de France, Olympic gold in the road time trial, the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award and the Velo d'Or as well as further successes in Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine. 54.526 - the world record distance, in kilometres, ridden by Wiggins in an hour at the former London Olympic velodrome in June 2015. 2 - Wiggins and Mark Cavendish have twice teamed up to win the world Madison title, in 2008 and 2016. 18 - Wiggins' age when he won his first senior medal, silver in the team pursuit at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. 120 - his position when eliminated from his first Grand Tour event, the 2003 Giro d'Italia, after stage 18. 40 - Wiggins' three medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics made him the first Briton to achieve that feat in 40 years, since Mary Rand in Tokyo in 1964. Multiple Olympic champion Wiggins is knighted by the Queen during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace