Vuelta a Espana - Blazin' Saddles: Millar Magic
Eurosport - Sun, 20 Sep 21:46:00 2009
The Briton left it late, but finally David Millar has that elusive stage win in 2009.
The Briton left it late, but finally David Millar has that elusive stage win in 2009.
There was something genuinely unsurprising about Millar's victory in the Toledo time trial - probably because in the absence of Fabian Cancellara, Millar was always quietly confident of delivering the goods.
More than that, Millar actually laid his cards down on the table and predicted his own triumph in the lead up to the race. Now that's self-assurance for you - eat your heart out Ricardo Ricco.
But then again, Millar has never been one to mince his words. Respected cycling journalist William Fotheringham (brother of equally respected cycle hack Alasdair Fotheringham) has lauded the Scot for his "often foul-mouthed" quotes full of "F and C words".
A friend of Blazin' Saddles once met Millar and one of his buddies in a Paris pub a few years back - probably while he was serving out his suspension for drugs. Apparently he was the life and death of the place, slamming back the drinks like there was no tomorrow.
In fact, Millar has never been an archetypal cyclist. Fotheringham (William) once described his dress sense as "artistic grunge-chic" while one American author said Millar looked "more like a cross between a snowboarder and a member of a student indie rock group."
Evidence suggests Millar has calmed down a bit since recently meeting the girl of his dreams (in Putney, bizarrely). Professionally, however, Millar had yet to win a race this season until Saturday's expert time trial victory. It was Garmin's third in the Vuelta, matching their arch rivals Columbia-HTC.
Happy days for one of cycling's most colourful characters - and the only Brit to don all three of the Grand Tour jerseys.
And on that note - without mentioning "Millar time" once - BS signs off.
Quote of the day: "I missed the 2008 Tour de France with this team and that is something that I don't want repeated. We don't know who is leading Astana, that's why I have some doubts. That's my main problem." Alberto Contador voices his concerns about his cycling future with the Kazakh-funded outfit.
The latest rumour is that Alexandre Vinokourov will retire from racing at the end of the year and take up the management of the team. Vino's obviously realised that this whole cycling malarkey without fresh blood isn't as easy as it used to be.
Follow Blazin' Saddles throughout the day on www.twitter.com/saddleblaze
FINAL STAGE LIVE at 2.45pm on Sunday on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe
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Comment 1 - 7 of 7
Hey, that c*** Millar has even started looking like a f****** cyclist. Good on him at long last. F****** magic!
Mind you, I don't condone his foul language.
Let's get this straight, Millar was suspected of using EPO for many months before he 'admitted it' - I remember reading his constant denials in the press. Funnily enough, he held is hands up when they found syringes and vials of EPO in his house in Biaritz - so let's not to carried away. Fair enough, he has done a lot of good work since his ban, but he never fell on his swords as other posts suggest. As for the question of why did he have to dope, well the answer is simple - everyone else was! Dispite isolated incidents, the peleton is now much cleaner and therefore, cleaner riders are able to compete on a more level playing field.
post 1, I suspect they might only need enough furniture for a game of solitaire.
I really do struggle to come to terms with how I feel about the guy. I am usually a very harsh critic of dopers. However, the way David conducted himself throughout the whole episode was quite humbling. No blaming the system, no denial, no blaming chamois cream or laboratory methods. The man put his hands up and said 'it's a fair cop' and seems to have been as honest as possible subsequently. Like I said, I want to condemn the man, I don't understand why, I just can't.
Scottish as I am I could never bring myself to support Millar again. He may have served his ban but if he had the talent to win clean why did he dope??
Golden boy Millar! Roll on the World TT Championship, it would be great to also see a good result from 'Wiggo', after his 'rest'!
The UCI said that if Vino becomes management, they start proceedings to revoke Astana's license immediately. It will be fun to see if Astana has enough riders signed to play a proper poker game next year, assuming that Bruyneel will leave behind a table and four chairs for them to use.
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