Winding number of a continuous closed path

If $\gamma :[0,1]\to \mathbb{C}\setminus \{0\}$ is continuous and closed, choose a continuous lift $\theta$ such thatThen $\mathrm{wind}(\gamma ,0)=\theta (1)-\theta (0)\in \mathbb{Z}$. This agrees with the contour-integral definition when the path is piecewise smooth.