Bradley Wiggins provided his most detailed insight to date into the financial troubles that led to his declaration of bankruptcy, suggesting that the problem was that he assumed during his racing career that "the money would be there forever."

On WEDŪ's The Forward w/Lance Armstrong podcast, after guest commentating on WEDŪ's Tour de France coverage, Wiggins said, "One of the things I regret is that I never paid attention to my financial situation when I was racing I never paid attention to my finances when I was racing."

"This happens to athletes all the time, but when you make a lot of money, if you don't pay attention to it, people will take advantage of you."

Wiggins claims that he now recognizes that his oversight as a rider played a role in the reportedly dire financial situation. 'But now I realize the importance of it all: ...... I should have paid more attention. 'But I realize now its importance. ...... I should have paid more attention."

Specifically, Wiggins suggested that the financial structure upon which his business was built made him responsible for losses that he was unaware of.

"I was bankrupted through my company," Wiggins explained.

"I had three companies. A portrait rights company that handled all my portrait rights and endorsement deals. 'I joined Simon Fuller at XIX Entertainment in 2014. They set up various joint ventures with different clubs, companies, and drink suppliers. The third of those companies was a cycling team called New Cycling Limited, and it was called Team Wiggins. That team was never to make a loss, never to make a profit, but purely to pay the team's riders and handle the budget.

"As we can see now through the lawyers, it was done intentionally. So if there was any trouble with the other teams, the top company always took the hit

"They should have been a separate company."

According to Companies House, Wiggins is a director of four companies, New Cycling Limited, Wiggins Rights Limited, WSW Cycling Limited, and TWOFOLD FIRST SERVICES LLP. WSW Cycling Limited was dissolved in 2013.

Wiggins claims that Team Wiggins overspent against its planned budget of £650,000. Wiggins, a Tour de France winner, said, "In the first year we spent £1 million with six riders."

"So there was a lot of money coming down from the top companies to support a venture that wasn't making money," he said, at the same time citing management costs as the cause of the financial losses.

"The biggest hit the top companies took was when they had almost 1.5 million in debt, and they gave that debt to me as an executive loan. But since I was not a director at the time, I had to become a director and take the loan without my knowledge. At the time I was still riding my bike. So I was totally confused and I didn't realize this confusion until I was deep into retirement."

In addition to the impact of the financial losses sustained by the subsidiary, Wiggins revealed details of an employment lawsuit that reclassified him as an employee.

"When I left (Team) Sky, I was a UK resident, so I had never lived abroad.

"And when I joined Team Sky, like most cyclists, I was self-employed with a portrait company. At the end of my time with Team Sky, I spent two years in court with HMRC on behalf of everyone who worked for Sky to dispute whether they were considered to be employed by Sky.

"In the case against HMRC I was a witness for Sky and spent a huge amount of money on legal fees. If I had been deemed employed, I would have had to pay back taxes, national insurance, etc.

Unfortunately for Wiggins, the tribunal found that he was an employee. He said, "Eventually, I was deemed employed, so I had to pay tax and national insurance going back five years. And Sky knew it was happening from the day I signed up."

While tax obligations and the structure of the company may not fully explain Wiggins' financial situation, he insists that it all becomes clear. It will just be a hell of a headache to straighten out."

In recent months, countless stories have emerged detailing Wiggins' impoverishment, with allegations that he is "couch surfing." Wiggins quickly denied such claims.

"That's where the sensationalism comes from," he said.

The Olympic champion said the tabloids were "harassing every member of my family, trying to add weight to the fact that by trying to dig up dirt and stories and things like this, they think you're done and dusted." He criticized the role of the project.

He detailed the intensive focus on his downfall, along with the suggestion that journalists were privy to his financial situation. He said, "They knew about it before he was registered in bankruptcy.

Wiggins believed that despite the negative press, his situation was headed for a positive resolution.

"It will be fine," he said. But it's the first time I've commented on it since it happened."