David Millar announces retirement after 2014 season.
Over the long term how will he be judged?
IMHO he has certainly improved from the moody arrogance that was his style in the early years and has shed the dour Scot image (Andy Murray take note!) I read his book and follow his anti doping stance but still can't escape the fact that I doubt he would have done it if he were not caught with the goods.
Still he has done more than most and I wish him well in his last season and in what he does thereafter.
IMHO he has certainly improved from the moody arrogance that was his style in the early years and has shed the dour Scot image (Andy Murray take note!) I read his book and follow his anti doping stance but still can't escape the fact that I doubt he would have done it if he were not caught with the goods.
Still he has done more than most and I wish him well in his last season and in what he does thereafter.
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He'll always be tarred with the doping brush; but he now has more of a poacher turned game keeper aspect about him.0
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He's an impressive, intelligent human being who obviously loves the sport. I hope he stays involved.
In fact I have a dream that one day, riders will all be fitted with helmet/bar-cams, and we can tune to the MillarDish ROFL channel and listen to Dave and Mark surf the peloton/breakaway....a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
Macaloon wrote:He's an impressive, intelligent human being who obviously loves the sport. I hope he stays involved.
In fact I have a dream that one day, riders will all be fitted with helmet/bar-cams, and we can tune to the MillarDish ROFL channel and listen to Dave and Mark surf the peloton/breakaway.
Well, they're making the Miller film and apparently there'll be rider mounted cameras...It's supposed to be an inside view of a race (next years Giro).0 -
I like Millar, sad to see him retire. The crowd went crazy for him at the Champs Elysees this year when he was in the breakaway. I think he is generally well liked.0
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I know what you mean, a bit mixed emotions for me. Before his ban I had little time for him and was not bothered by his outing as a drug cheat. Since reading his book, and his subsequent re birth as an anti drug stalwart I have warmed to him greatly.
Also, in his book, a certain Mr Brailsford, who often gets a hard time on here, comes over rather well for staying on hand to help him when he was released from the French jail after his interrogation. This despite Brailsford's wife, who was also there, being heavily pregnant and the Gendarms advising him to go home and not get involved with a doper.0 -
I've met Brailsford and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I suppose he has come across as quite stern in some programmes/interviews but a lot of successful managers do.0
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How many times can you change your mind about a big decision that's not until next year...0
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I hope he races the Tour next year, I've enjoyed waving at him in my kilt on the mountains.
He's been am excellent super domestique with a several excellent wins in his career. He's also one of the few riders to atone and try to make cycling better after being busted.
I'll miss his crazy breakaway attempts and last few KM dashes.0 -
I have a lot of time for Millar, and will be sad to see him go. His TdF Prologue win in 2000 was responsible for rekindling my dormant love for the sport, and he quickly became a bit of a hero of mine. Then came the whole doping thing and I wasn't quite sure how I felt.
His return as something of a poster boy for 'reformed cycling' returned me to fanboi status - I think he's been an eloquent and intelligent spokesman around both doping and the sport in general. I struggle to think of a sportsman anywhere who articulates his sport, its problems and potential solutions as well as he does.
Found his book both interesting and enlightening, especially in terms of understanding why he behaved like such a d!ck for much of his early career!
The ire and contempt he draws from some I tend to put down to the very black and white way in which some respond to the whole doping thing - as tempting as it is to neatly box everything up ("Armstrong evil, McQauid evil, Vaughters good" etc.) life is a lot more complex, nuanced and shades-of-grey than that. The same man can both have been an arrogant fool earlier on, done some stupid chemical-related things, and come to a fuller understanding of how the pressures within a sport (and individuals' weaknesses) drive them to these bad decisions - he doesn't have to be thrown into an "all good" or "all bad" box and left there.@shraap | My Men 2016: G, Yogi, Cav, Boonen, Degenkolb, Martin, J-Rod, Kudus, Chaves0 -
I'll miss him in the peloton. He's someone who's leaving the peloton in a better place than when he started out, and he's been part of that. He's more eloquent than most other riders and is always good for a quote or two. Look forward to hearing more of him on the commentary front cos he was great commentating on last year's Worlds0
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His doping was before my time, so I've only be aware of him after that.
He comes across as a very articulate, honest and humble man and has earned my respect. His riding is also very honest also I feel, such as at the Champs-Élysées. I felt for him when he just missed out on holding the yellow jersey at the Tour this year.
After retirement I think he would be a huge asset to the sport, either in commentary where his insight and analysis would be great,with a team in a race car, or at an administrative level with a governing body etc.0 -
I get the impression from the way he's come across in interviews over the years he'll be the 'Roy Keane' of road cycling commentary.0
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It looks like I'm the only one that can't stand him and the sooner he retires the better. It''s the slightly pious ex-doper thing that bugs me because he only fessed up after the police took him away and then he blamed the team, the sport, the sponsors, the pressure, I don't remember at any time he said 'yes, I did it because I wanted to win and it was my decision no one held me down and stuck a needle in my arm.
I suspect that if he hadn't been carted off and then subsequently confessed then he'd be another Bjarne Riis in that he'd own up to it many years after he'd retired.
Anyway just my opinion not wanting to start a fight with anyone'Hello to Jason Isaacs'0 -
Come on Schleppy you need to get off that fence and tell us how you really feel
To some extent he does atone for much of what you said in his book and is a lot more humble and circumspect about the hole affair. However if you don't like him then you are unlikely to read the book and I can't say I had much time for him before. The book is an interesting insight into the world of pro cycling too, it's not all about the drugs.0 -
schlepcycling wrote:It looks like I'm the only one that can't stand him and the sooner he retires the better. It''s the slightly pious ex-doper thing that bugs me because he only fessed up after the police took him away and then he blamed the team, the sport, the sponsors, the pressure, I don't remember at any time he said 'yes, I did it because I wanted to win and it was my decision no one held me down and stuck a needle in my arm.
I suspect that if he hadn't been carted off and then subsequently confessed then he'd be another Bjarne Riis in that he'd own up to it many years after he'd retired.
Anyway just my opinion not wanting to start a fight with anyone
Well.......one thing in his defense, he did not try to blame his steak, or his chimera, or his mother in law or indeed his dog. He held his hand up and said "I am a drug cheat".0 -
He does blame those factors (and I think they are valid causes), but he also says that had he been a stronger (for want of a better word) person then he could have steered a clean course for longer, maybe forever - and he praises those few that did. It's not as black and white as his fault or their fault.schlepcycling wrote:It looks like I'm the only one that can't stand him and the sooner he retires the better. It''s the slightly pious ex-doper thing that bugs me because he only fessed up after the police took him away and then he blamed the team, the sport, the sponsors, the pressure, I don't remember at any time he said 'yes, I did it because I wanted to win and it was my decision no one held me down and stuck a needle in my arm.Twitter: @RichN950 -
bockers wrote:Come on Schleppy you need to get off that fence and tell us how you really feel
To some extent he does atone for much of what you said in his book and is a lot more humble and circumspect about the hole affair. However if you don't like him then you are unlikely to read the book and I can't say I had much time for him before. The book is an interesting insight into the world of pro cycling too, it's not all about the drugs.
I'm the opposite, I liked him pre book but reading it put me off him somewhat. I suppose there is a fine line between an explanation and an excuse but for me the pressure on him to dope didn't seem quite as overwhelming as he seemed to think it was. Still I have no problem with riders who serve their time returning and he was always class on a bike.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
This post contains spoilers for his book.
Sad to hear he is retiring but you can see he isn't at his best. I enjoyed his book and he comes across as contrite. One thing that concerns me is that if they hadn't found the syringes in his house would he have come clean?
I hope he does the Tour of Britain as a goodbye. I think he won't be able to resist the Commonwealth Games as well.
Good luck to him!!!!!!0 -
Der Kaiser wrote:I hope he does the Tour of Britain as a goodbye. I think he won't be able to resist the Commonwealth Games as well.
Good luck to him!!!!!!
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Millar on the Commonwealth Games & some good stuff on nationality.
"None of this gave me any inclination to compete in the Commonwealth Games. I didn’t go in 1998 when I could have because it clashed with the Tour de L’Avenir, the mini Tour de France, a race that seemed much more important to me at the time. I didn’t go in 2002 because I had become a cold and calculating professional cyclist living in a rather dark and murky world, and the Commonwealth Games seemed like it existed in a parallel universe into which I couldn’t and shouldn’t enter.
People and situations change, though. My life was turned upside down and I was given the opportunity of a renaissance. That renaissance has allowed me to see things differently and act in a manner I wouldn’t have done previously, and competing for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games was one of the biggest opportunities I have been given."
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/david-millar-passionate-about-commonwealth-games-1-3008613...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
I have to say I like him and the peloton will be slightly less interesting place without him in it.
PS: Bocker - nice horse.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
I can remember watching Millar on the TV a long time ago, when he was the only Brit in the peloton and cycling was very different. It seems like he's changed with the sport, but in his case for the better. Post-doping ban, I picked up on his diaries for various websites, and I honestly don't think anyone has written more infectiously about the tactics involved in bike racing.
As for the doping, if Millar came across as 'holier-than-thou' then maybe that's because there were a hell of a lot of cyclists that it was easier to be holier than. It may seem smug, or arrogant, or just plain bloody annoying, but it's been backed up with at least some action and has been an infinitely better attitude for the sport than arguing over the probability of eating the only cow in Spain to have ever grazed the legendary clenbuterol fields of La Mancha.0 -
No tA Doctor wrote:I have to say I like him and the peloton will be slightly less interesting place without him in it.
PS: Bocker - nice horse.
Hmmm....that horse is called Clifton Promise and I claim my £5
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/103792 ... tance.html0 -
I like him and will miss him in the peleton. Hope he stays involved as I think he is a very good influence on the sport.0
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I had the fortune to cheer DM up the slopes of Avoriaz in 2010 and give him a wee push. Two days later at the start he recognised us and was very very charming. I have 2 fantastic photos of me cheering him up the climb and also him with my daughter at the start. True gent.
Then this summer I had the honour of doing the event announcing at the Nat Champs in Glasgow. Throughout the day the fans were cheering for Cav & Stannard and "Davy Boy". As they raced toward the finish line for the penultimate lap I got the 15,000 crowd to cheer in turn for who they wanted to win, Cav, Stannard, Kennaugh or Millar. The cheer for Millar was immense. It gave me goose bumps. Glasgow has taken him to their hearts. I hope 2014 is as fantastic for him as his solo breakaways in Barca and Paris.0 -
If there is any former doper who is worthy of the description of redeemed then in my opinion it is Millar. Since his return to cycling he has ridden with guts and panache and was an excellent road captain when Cav won the WC. His candidness and insight in interviews has been great to listen to.
I'd love him to be a full time pundit on TV.0 -
underlayunderlay wrote:I can remember watching Millar on the TV a long time ago, when he was the only Brit in the peloton and cycling was very different. It seems like he's changed with the sport, but in his case for the better. Post-doping ban, I picked up on his diaries for various websites, and I honestly don't think anyone has written more infectiously about the tactics involved in bike racing.
As for the doping, if Millar came across as 'holier-than-thou' then maybe that's because there were a hell of a lot of cyclists that it was easier to be holier than. It may seem smug, or arrogant, or just plain bloody annoying, but it's been backed up with at least some action and has been an infinitely better attitude for the sport than arguing over the probability of eating the only cow in Spain to have ever grazed the legendary clenbuterol fields of La Mancha.
Agree with all of that wholeheartedly, when Millar talks about cycling he's intelligent, insightful and frequently very witty.
The bit I've bolded in your quote just made me spit my drink out my nose.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
