Press Release 16 October 2012
Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE, OBE, six time World cycling champion, four time Olympic gold medallist, joint most decorated British athlete in Olympic history, retro style icon, GQ Man of the Year 2012 AND the first ever British winner of arguably the world’s most challenging sporting event, the Tour de France. It has been the year of ‘Wiggo’!
And now, the first man in history to win the coveted yellow jersey and an Olympic gold medal in the same year has teamed up with Opus to celebrate his unique achievements through the pages of The Official Bradley Wiggins Opus, The Historic Tour de France Victory of 2012. Tempting as it would be to recount Wiggo’s entire life story and cover his cycling career on track and road, the Opus will focus on his greatest achievement; a lifetime’s sacrifice crammed in to three gruelling weeks in France that culminated with victory in the ultimate test of man and bicycle, The Tour de France.
Wiggins was followed every step of the way by top photographer and friend Scott Mitchell. Mitchell was afforded unprecedented access to allow him to record the roller-coaster of emotions that Bradley encountered en route to the incredible victory celebrations in Paris, providing a stunning first-hand record of one man’s experiences in this most challenging of all sporting events.
The Official Bradley Wiggins Opus will take the reader on this journey with Bradley. Mitchell’s amazing and never before published imagery will be accompanied by comments and commentary from Wiggins himself. Further contributions from those closest to Wiggins: friends, family, colleagues (including Sir Chris Hoy and Dave Brailsford), opponents and his fans, allows Opus to deliver an unprecedented visual and emotional insight into of what it takes, both mentally and physically, to win the Tour de France.
The Opus itself will run to 350 sensational pages, each measuring 45cm x 33cm and printed in a landscape format, weighing in excess of 12kg. The Opus will be leather bound and presented in a beautiful, hand-made clamshell case, dyed to replicate the yellow of the most famous jersey in sport.
In addition to the scale and quality delivered by every Opus, the first 101 copies will not only be personally signed by the man himself but will also have a piece of ‘the yellow’ that Bradley actually wore on tour incorporated into its cover – a unique piece of memorabilia for collectors and sports lovers alike. All Opuses in the print run will be personally signed by Wiggins.
Copy number 101 will be auctioned with all proceeds going to The Bradley Wiggins Foundation. Opus CEO, Karl Fowler comments:
‘For me, Bradley’s feat in becoming the first Brit to win the Tour, is the greatest achievement by anyone in British sports history. The fact that Bradley uniquely followed up with gold in his home Olympics tells you that we are working with a true legend of sport here. It is an absolute honour for Opus to have the opportunity to tell Bradley’s story from the inside, as it were, and we fully intend to create a fitting tribute to a British sporting icon.’
The final word goes to Wiggo:
‘Believe it or not the first thing I asked my management to look into when I knew I had won the Yellow Jersey, was if we could create an Opus. I had spent hours during the Tour thinking about it and discussing how it would look and feel with Scott. To see it come to reality, considering the history of other Opus publications, is another memorable marker for me in this amazing year… an ambition realised and hopefully we have created a fitting testament to one of the world’s greatest sporting events’.
