Robert Millar speaks to Cycling News!

donrhummy

Wow, they actually got Robert Millar to speak with them about the TDF!

(One thing I'm confused about is that they refer to him as Robert Millar, but I thought he'd had a sex change, no?)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cn- ... d-team-sky

Pross

Why not PM him and ask :roll:

stagehopper

The estimable Sir Robert Millar also emailed Eurosport last year with his thoughts on lots of the climbs. Very enlightening as you might have expected from such a great rider.

rick_chasey

Seems to be a bit of a legend.


I'm too young to have fond memories on him like plenty of people here do.

zippypablo

donrhummy wrote:

Wow, they actually got Robert Millar to speak with them about the TDF!

(One thing I'm confused about is that they refer to him as Robert Millar, but I thought he'd had a sex change, no?)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cn- ... d-team-sky

Not the sex change rumour again. Thought this had died a death a long time ago. He posts on this forum now and then.

SunWuKong

donrhummy wrote:

Wow, they actually got Robert Millar to speak with them about the TDF!

(One thing I'm confused about is that they refer to him as Robert Millar, but I thought he'd had a sex change, no?)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cn- ... d-team-sky

He has had the sex change, Bruce Lee died from doing too many sit ups and Elvis does actually work in the chippy near my house.

DaveyL

"He won his third stage, from Cauterets to Supertankers, in 1989, while riding for the Z team."

Genius. iPhone autocorrect error?

rick_chasey

Doesn't Millar make an appearence on the Big Ring Riding blog?

With his Shamals?


Yes.

brakelever

forums will be a thing of the past before we see a climber of mr millars class again from this country .

deejay

brakelever wrote:

forums will be a thing of the past before we see a climber of mr millars class again from this country .

Hold on steady there, I have the greatest respect for Robert but he rode in a style that Virenque used in later years.

ie, He won stages when he allowed his GC position to fall and the contenders would have no worries about him to chase.
He could however always outclimb Delgado who won a TDF along with Roche when the big climbers were missing.
Robert should also have taken his chance because he could outclimb both of them but prefered to stay a domestic.
The return of Lemond and Fignon changed the mountain climbing class.
Robert should have won a Vuelta but the spanish ganged up on him to allow their man Delgado to win.

Gavin Cook

Miller was up there with the best climbers of the 80's but Lucho Herrera was a much better climber.

daviesee

deejay wrote:

brakelever wrote:

forums will be a thing of the past before we see a climber of mr millars class again from this country .

Hold on steady there, I have the greatest respect for Robert but he rode in a style that Virenque used in later years.

ie, He won stages when he allowed his GC position to fall and the contenders would have no worries about him to chase.
He could however always outclimb Delgado who won a TDF along with Roche when the big climbers were missing.
Robert should also have taken his chance because he could outclimb both of them but prefered to stay a domestic.
The return of Lemond and Fignon changed the mountain climbing class.
Robert should have won a Vuelta but the spanish ganged up on him to allow their man Delgado to win.

Debateable and possibly all true but the original statement still holds true

giant_man

brakelever wrote:

forums will be a thing of the past before we see a climber of mr millars class again from this country .

+ - absolutely!!

ultimobici

deejay wrote:

Hold on steady there, I have the greatest respect for Robert but he rode in a style that Virenque used in later years.

ie, He won stages when he allowed his GC position to fall and the contenders would have no worries about him to chase.
He could however always outclimb Delgado who won a TDF along with Roche when the big climbers were missing.
Robert should also have taken his chance because he could outclimb both of them but prefered to stay a domestic.
The return of Lemond and Fignon changed the mountain climbing class.
Robert should have won a Vuelta but the spanish ganged up on him to allow their man Delgado to win.

I think you might need to check Mr Teeshirt's palmares before comparing him to Tricky Dickie.
1983 1 Stage & 14th Overall
1984 1 Stage, KOM & 4th Overall
1985 11th Overall
1986 Abandoned Ill but was on to win 2nd KOM
1987 19th Overall
1988 Abandoned
1989 1 Stage & 10th
1990 Abandoned
1991 72nd
1992 18th
1993 24th

Virenque may have 7 KOM titles, but one has to put a dirty great big asterisk after every one of them in light of Festina and the lack of EPO testing.

To compare Millar or any other true climber to Virenque is disingenuous. Both Bahamontes & Van Impe were quite disparaging of his "talents"
Bahamontes's opinion

"It's a shame that Virenque has become the best climber in history. He is a great rider, but not a complete rider.
He should go for the general classification, but he's 20 or 30 minutes behind the leaders.[n 14] That's why they let him go.
I can only speak for myself, the best climbers were Charly Gaul and van Impe"

Van Impe's opinion in 2002

"There's no doubt that Richard is a great rider but he's only the best climber in this Tour on paper. The best climber really is Lance Armstrong. He [Virenque] takes points everywhere, especially on the middling climbs. Me, I focussed on the big cols. I was proud of my record. I shared it with my idol, Federico Bahamontes."

Pross

Great to see that mutual respect between Bahamontes and van Impe.

I can't see us producing a climber of Millar's quality for a good few years mainly because it isn't something you can be coached to become, you are either born with the natural characteristics or not. Obviously you then have to work very hard to make the most of the natural talent but training on its own can never make up for it. People are getting bigger in general, we aren't a nation with big mountains. I can see the next generation of climbers coming from areas of China and possibly even further down the line India much as the South American climbers of the 80's.

rick_chasey

Pross wrote:

Great to see that mutual respect between Bahamontes and van Impe.

I can't see us producing a climber of Millar's quality for a good few years mainly because it isn't something you can be coached to become, you are either born with the natural characteristics or not. Obviously you then have to work very hard to make the most of the natural talent but training on its own can never make up for it. People are getting bigger in general, we aren't a nation with big mountains. I can see the next generation of climbers coming from areas of China and possibly even further down the line India much as the South American climbers of the 80's.

Dutch are the tallest nation in the world, and have been for sometime. Doesn't stop them producing excellent climbers.

Pross

Yeah but that will be all those huge mounatins they have to ride over on a daily basis

Thanks for shooting my theory down in flames

petejuk

The Dutch have strong winds everywhere. Its like riding uphill.

rick_chasey

petejuk wrote:

The Dutch have strong winds everywhere. Its like riding uphill.

I blame the dairy full diet...

Scotland04

Robert is a true Scottish legend. To my mind there have only ever been 3 true geniouses in Scottish sport. By that I mean athletes who have been so determined and self motivated that success was innevitable on the world stage. Robert Millar is one the other two are Graeme Obree and finally Liz McColgan. All of these athletes have succeeded where other Scots have merely taken part. They all came from difficult backgrounds and dragged themselves to the top by whatever means it took. I do not look upon Robert as a Brit as I hate that phrase and it's connotations. He was a Scot and that is why he succeeded. There is a determination within Scottish sportsmen and women that I don't think is found anywhere else in the UK. It may be to do with having a chip on both shoulders but it is part of our psyche. As far as Boardman ,Simpson and even Mark Cavendish are concerned they couldn't lace Robert's boots. :evil: [/quote]

Splottboy

Scottish Heroes?!

You forgot these:

The Krankies, The Big Yin, Franky Boyle, Fat Bastard, Sean Connery and those 2 that used to be on TV every Hogmany..
Moira something and Jimmy somethingelse. ( Around the late 60's/early 70's...)

RichN95.

Scotland04 wrote:

Robert is a true Scottish legend. To my mind there have only ever been 3 true geniouses in Scottish sport. By that I mean athletes who have been so determined and self motivated that success was innevitable on the world stage. Robert Millar is one the other two are Graeme Obree and finally Liz McColgan. All of these athletes have succeeded where other Scots have merely taken part. They all came from difficult backgrounds and dragged themselves to the top by whatever means it took. I do not look upon Robert as a Brit as I hate that phrase and it's connotations. He was a Scot and that is why he succeeded. There is a determination within Scottish sportsmen and women that I don't think is found anywhere else in the UK. It may be to do with having a chip on both shoulders but it is part of our psyche. As far as Boardman ,Simpson and even Mark Cavendish are concerned they couldn't lace Robert's boots. :evil:

I think you're leaving out a few Scotsmen there - Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Kenny Dalglish and Chris Hoy to name just four.

However, your idea that Boardman, Simpson and Cavendish aren't fit to lace his Millar's boots is arch ignorance. Boardman broke the same hour record Obree did (just not in such a maverick way) and more besides (but he can't compare with Millar), Simpson won three of the monuments and the worlds (who was the last rider to do that?) and Cavendish has just equalled the post-war record of most Tour stage wins by young (i.e. white jersey eligible) rider - equal with none other than Eddy Merckx.

Don't get me wrong though - Robert Millar was The Man when I first followed cycling.

simon_e

Rick Chasey wrote:

Seems to be a bit of a legend.

That's quite an understatement.

He is considered Britain's best ever cyclist, though ignored by the cycling establishment after his retirement from pro racing (and probably before then too).

You could find a copy of The High Life from 1985, recently been released on DVD (I've just been lent a VHS copy, there are some clips on Youtube). If you want to know more about his career then Richard Moore's book is worth reading, and there's more info on a fan site at http://www.robertmillar.net/

His analysis of riders, races etc is fascinating and always worth reading. I'm sure his article for Rouleur 13 is one of the reasons it sold out so quickly.

mroli

Scotland04 wrote:

I do not look upon Robert as a Brit as I hate that phrase and it's connotations.

I really don't get this. What connotations?

Tom Butcher

Simon E wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Seems to be a bit of a legend.

That's quite an understatement.

He is considered Britain's best ever cyclist, though ignored by the cycling establishment after his retirement from pro racing (and probably before then too).

Been a while since we've had the argument on here - but leaving aside track riders and women (Beryl Burton and Nicole Cooke might have something to say) what about Tom Simpson and Cavendish ?

whyamihere

Tom Butcher wrote:

Simon E wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Seems to be a bit of a legend.

That's quite an understatement.

He is considered Britain's best ever cyclist, though ignored by the cycling establishment after his retirement from pro racing (and probably before then too).

Been a while since we've had the argument on here - but leaving aside track riders and women (Beryl Burton and Nicole Cooke might have something to say) what about Tom Simpson and Cavendish ?

I'd put Simpson and Millar roughly equal, because thy weren't really the same type of rider, so can't be directly compared. Simpson's probably the best one day racer we've ever had, Millar's easily the best grand tour rider, in terms of general classification chances. Cav will never have a general classification win, but I think there's a chance of him taking Tom Simpson's status as the best British one day racer.

moray_gub

Scotland04 wrote:

Robert is a true Scottish legend. To my mind there have only ever been 3 true geniouses in Scottish sport. By that I mean athletes who have been so determined and self motivated that success was innevitable on the world stage. Robert Millar is one the other two are Graeme Obree and finally Liz McColgan. All of these athletes have succeeded where other Scots have merely taken part. They all came from difficult backgrounds and dragged themselves to the top by whatever means it took. I do not look upon Robert as a Brit as I hate that phrase and it's connotations. He was a Scot and that is why he succeeded. There is a determination within Scottish sportsmen and women that I don't think is found anywhere else in the UK. It may be to do with having a chip on both shoulders but it is part of our psyche. As far as Boardman ,Simpson and even Mark Cavendish are concerned they couldn't lace Robert's boots. :evil:

[/quote]

As a Scotsman myself i am proud of Roberts achievments and regard him rightly as one of our greatest ever cyclists but i think saying he succeded because he was Scottish is stretching it a bit. He suceeded becuase of determination and grit and talent which didnt happen purely because he was born on the right side of Hadrians wall.

Anonymous

Gies a swedger at yer wee pal, no ?

Just 'cos the wee stoater, Rabbie McMillar, braw climber that he wis, is Scoattish disnae matter, by the way. If yer boarn a bam, ye stay a bam, ken whit I mean, pal ?

I'm Scottish and hate the misguided sanctimonious comment scots make that make them look and sound daft, yes Scotland04, I'm talking to you. :roll:

simon_e

Tom Butcher wrote:

Been a while since we've had the argument on here

Sorry, but you won't find one over here. I can cope with a difference of opinion even if you can't

moray_gub

Splottboy wrote:

Scottish Heroes?!

You forgot these:

The Krankies, The Big Yin, Franky Boyle, Fat Bastard, Sean Connery and those 2 that used to be on TV every Hogmany..
Moira something and Jimmy somethingelse. ( Around the late 60's/early 70's...)

Jimmy Logan and Moira Anderson damaged my ears on many a hogmany when i was a kid.

Tom Butcher

Simon E wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

Been a while since we've had the argument on here

Sorry, but you won't find one over here. I can cope with a difference of opinion even if you can't

Wtf ?