David Millar's 'swan song'

NervexProf

The Bec hill climb this Sunday:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/o ... ar-cycling

http://www.beccyclingclub.co.uk/article ... climb.html

frenchfighter

Art Vandelay

Did you know Millar hasn't spoken properly with Vaughters in over a year and a half!

Paul 8v

That's odd, I thought they were pretty good friends at one point?

Rodrego Hernandez

The sooner he's out of the sport the better, cheated many out of results and jobs early in his career and on his last year of almost zero performance, has done a decent rider out of a contract yet again. Should have hung his wheels up last year.

danlikesbikes

Paul 8v wrote:

That's odd, I thought they were pretty good friends at one point?

They were, but just need to look at the Twitter argument between JV and Fran on Twitter & it appears all was not well

Paul 8v

I'm a bit rubbish at twitter but was this to do with him not being selected for the tour? That's all I can find

tailwindhome

JackPozzi

Does Millar still own part of the team?

RichN95.

JackPozzi wrote:

Does Millar still own part of the team?

I don't think so. A token amount at best. I think his ownership was largely due to his problems with the tax man at the time.

disgruntledgoat

RichN95 wrote:

JackPozzi wrote:

Does Millar still own part of the team?

I don't think so. A token amount at best. I think his ownership was largely due to his problems with the tax man at the time.

That was my understanding. He was paid sod all in cash and the rest in equity to keep it away from the revenue whilst he was skinted

inseine

Paul 8v wrote:

That's odd, I thought they were pretty good friends at one point?

Seems to have his name on his shoes, which I guess is a list of people who are important to him.

jscl

inseine wrote:

Paul 8v wrote:

That's odd, I thought they were pretty good friends at one point?

Seems to have his name on his shoes, which I guess is a list of people who are important to him.

Correct it is.

Dave managed 21st at Bec Hill today.

FocusZing

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

The sooner he's out of the sport the better, cheated many out of results and jobs early in his career and on his last year of almost zero performance, has done a decent rider out of a contract yet again. Should have hung his wheels up last year.

Which riders would you place your own money on, who are 100% clean?

RideOnTime

TailWindHome wrote:

I know that's a shoe.

Ankle looks really odd...

phreak

JSCL wrote:

inseine wrote:

Paul 8v wrote:

That's odd, I thought they were pretty good friends at one point?

Seems to have his name on his shoes, which I guess is a list of people who are important to him.

Correct it is.

Dave managed 21st at Bec Hill today.

Was certainly a lot of people there. Quite substantially more than at Catford earlier in the day, which was a shame.

Paul 8v

I'd like to ride the catford one day, it looks evil!

mulletmaster

21st!? WTF was the point in that? Was there a significance I haven't heard?

d_o_g

Because why not?

Bo Duke

Guys, I know we're going back into cabin fever time again, but we've covered DM pretty well already. He admitted to doping and assisted the authorities in some way to get to where we are today with greater awareness and policing of our sport.

He served his time and came back on an anti doping ticket unlike Valverde, today's darling who never even apologized.

Yeah Millar was wrong but he showed he had honour in trying to right that wrong. And there's no shame in not being the best rider in the field, he shares that category with all of us.

Thanks David for making amends and doing your bit to make cycling cleaner.

specialgueststar

21st?? - there must be some fairly modest club riders who beat him then - he has done and finished the Vuelta - even if he wasn't trying.... ?

inseine

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

21st?? - there must be some fairly modest club riders who beat him then - he has done and finished the Vuelta - even if he wasn't trying.... ?

The winner did 1.49, Miller managed 2.03. There were 134 finishers.
I'd post photos, but logging onto the site with my computer is impossible and even on my phone it's a PITA. What is wrong with the site???

phreak

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

21st?? - there must be some fairly modest club riders who beat him then - he has done and finished the Vuelta - even if he wasn't trying.... ?

I think it was an ok field. I came a bit further down the field in the Bec than I did in Catford earlier in the day. I think the possibility of his scalp attracted a reasonable field. Plus he had his finger injuries, which is perhaps not ideal for a hill climb. I also suspect he wasn't going full-on. It wouldn't be very gracious to go there and thrash the field.

FJS

inseine wrote:

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

21st?? - there must be some fairly modest club riders who beat him then - he has done and finished the Vuelta - even if he wasn't trying.... ?

The winner did 1.49, Miller managed 2.03. There were 134 finishers.
I'd post photos, but logging onto the site with my computer is impossible and even on my phone it's a PITA. What is wrong with the site???

21st is a bit pathetic, to be honest. Even if it's not his strength, he should have done better. Monsal Hill Climb often gets some current international(ish) pros; this year Russ Downing finished 2nd, Adam Blythe 3rd. He wasn't expected to win it, but 21st?

t4tomo

He was there as a favour to one of the organisers who is an old mate, his mrs and few other mates / acquaintences entered too.

whilst he is a pro (or I guess ex pro as of this morning) he's no exactly a specialist climber and from the press I read, he hasn't done many of these hill climb events in his life. 14s off the wiining time is quite respectable, especially as he was never in it to win it.


I say chapeau for turning out at an event like that as his final ride.

t4tomo

He was there as a favour to one of the organisers who is an old mate, his mrs and few other mates / acquaintences entered too.

whilst he is a pro (or I guess ex pro as of this morning) he's no exactly a specialist climber and from the press I read, he hasn't done many of these hill climb events in his life. 14s off the wiining time is quite respectable, especially as he was never in it to win it.


I say chapeau for turning out at an event like that as his final ride.

Paul 8v

Some of these guys specialise in hill climbing and would probably know the course a lot better than Millar which is a massive advantage.

You can bet he wasn't riding a bike with the bars cut off below the drops, a single front chainring/fixed gear and a saddle with no padding and holes drilled in it.

If you're really in to your hill climbs there's some quite specialised kit goes around and some quite specific training. I can't imagine many of these guys would be able to touch him on a 160k race! Horses for courses really, you wouldn't expect Chris Froome to win a track sprint or Ed Clancy to win Milan San Remo

phreak

Looks as though he was going pretty hard

Richrd2205

6th paragraph of the first linked-to article:

“I’m going to get my head kicked in,” he said. “I’ve never done a hill climb before, I’m riding with a broken hand and I can hardly get out of the saddle.”

I mean, it's kinda tricky to get through 100 words of article to find the reason, it's probably just easier to make stuff up...

pb21

Bradley Wiggins did this event (or the Catford one?) a few years ago, whilst riding for CA, and I rode it faster, its just for publicity really.

I don't doubt Millar could have won if he wanted.

thegreatdivide

Richrd2205 wrote:

6th paragraph of the first linked-to article:

“I’m going to get my head kicked in,” he said. “I’ve never done a hill climb before, I’m riding with a broken hand and I can hardly get out of the saddle.”

I mean, it's kinda tricky to get through 100 words of article to find the reason, it's probably just easier to make stuff up...

LOL - spot on.

My mates were down there filming for the Millar thing. He was on his standard team S5.