Sir Bradley Wiggins has hailed the controversial Lance Armstrong as an "inspiration" and expressed gratitude for his support during the Olympic champion's struggle with drug addiction.

Wiggins, who last month opened up about his cocaine addiction post-retirement in 2016, is now celebrating a year of sobriety and regularly attends therapy. Despite Armstrong's fall from grace due to doping, Wiggins acknowledged his significant influence on his recovery journey.

Speaking to BBC Five Live, Wiggins remarked: "He's been a great strength to me and a great inspiration to me, and it's on a human level. He's been very, very good to me. That's not something everyone wants to hear because people only like to hear the bad stuff.

"You can only take someone how they treat you and Lance has been a source of inspiration to me and a constant source of help towards me. And is one of the main factors why I'm in this position I am today mentally and physically, so, I'm indebted to him for that."

While Wiggins doesn't communicate with Armstrong daily, he plans to collaborate with him on his podcast The Move at the upcoming Tour de France.

The 45 year old father-of-two has been open about his past experiences with sexual abuse as a teenager and his subsequent battle with drug addiction.

"We are all humans at the end of the day and it is a human story and I've had lots of events in my life that informed the problems I had in my life post-cycling," Wiggins explained.

"I'd never had therapy or counselling during my time as a cyclist because you're perceived as a cyclist – or certainly when you're an Olympic champion or the Tour de France winner – to be incredibly mentally strong.

"It took me a long time to adapt to normal life, as it were, and all the things that contribute to keeping me in a steady place."