Robert Millar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Millar

Millar - solo breakaway on the Col de la Bonette, Tour de France, 1993
Personal information
Full name	Robert Millar
Date of birth	13 September 1958 (1958-09-13) (age 50)
Country	Scotland
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)1
1980–1985 1986–1987 1988 1989–1991 1992–1994 1995	Peugeot Panasonic Fagor Z-Peugeot TVM Le Groupement
Major wins
Tour de France, 3 stages King of the Mountains, (1984) Giro d'Italia, 1 stage King of the Mountains (1987) Vuelta a España, 1 stage Volta a Catalunya (1985) Dauphiné Libéré (1990) Tour of Britain (1989) National Champion (1995)
Infobox last updated on:
26 July 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Robert Millar (born 13 September 1958) is a former Scottish professional cyclist who won the “King of the Mountains” competition in the 1984 Tour de France and finished fourth overall – the highest Tour position for a British cyclist, and the first time a Briton had won a major Tour classification. He also achieved the highest finish by a Briton in the Giro d'Italia, finishing second in the 1987 event and winning the King of the Mountains classification too. He was a vegetarian. Millar remains the only rider from an English speaking country to have won the Tour De France King of the Mountains title. He is not related to fellow Scot David Millar.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Professional career 3 Later career 4 Palmares 5 Teams 6 References

[edit] Early life

Raised in Glasgow and at one time destined for a career as a factory engineer, he attended Shawlands Academy in the south of the city. Robert Millar was a leading amateur road racing rider. Riding for Glasgow Wheelers cycling club, he won the Scottish junior title in 1976 and was Scottish hill-climb champion the following year.

In 1978, Millar established himself on the British scene. He was 21st in the Milk Race, and won the British amateur road race championship. He moved to France in 1979 to join the ACBB (Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt), one of Europe's top amateur teams. A year later, after retaining his British road title, taking fourth place in the world amateur road championship, claiming five wins in France and winning the French 'Best Amateur' Trophy, he turned professional for the Peugeot cycling team, and as a climbing specialist focused on single-day road races and stage races in hilly or mountainous terrain.

While other British riders often found living away from home a problem, Millar was happy to travel abroad, and wasn't homesick.He married a French woman, and lived with her in France.

[edit] Professional career

His early professional career included high positions in the Tour of Vaucluse (3rd in 1980), Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré (7th in 1981 and second in 1983), Tour de Romandie (7th in 1981 and 1982) and Tour de l'Avenir (second in 1982).

In 1983, he rode the Tour de France for the first time, winning stage 10 Pau-Bagneres de Luchon and finishing 14th overall and third in the mountain classification. That year he also came second in the Dauphiné Libéré stage race.

1984 saw continued improvement. In the early season Paris-Nice stage "Race to the Sun" he held the lead for a while before finishing sixth, and in the Tour de Romandie he took fifth place overall, the mountains competition and a stage at Crans-Montana. It was preparation for the Tour de France – he finished fourth (surpassing Tom Simpson's sixth place in the 1960s) and won "King of the Mountains", aided by another mountain stage victory on stage 11 from Pau to Guzet-Neige.

In 1985, he won the Volta a Catalunya and came sixth in Paris-Nice. He also raced well in the Vuelta a España, finishing second and taking a stage (feats he repeated in 1986), but in the Tour de France he finished 11th. Riding for the Dutch Panasonic team in 1987, Millar got his first taste of the Giro d'Italia, finishing second, taking a stage and the mountains competition. In the Tour de Romandie, he finished fourth; in the Tour de France 19th.

In 1988, Millar rode for the French Fagor team and managed his best position in a one-day 'Monument' Classic, third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In the Tour de France, he lost the opportunity of a repeat mountain stage win in Guzet-Neige when, sprinting uphill to the finish with Phillipe Bouvatier, both riders mistook a gendarme's signals, took a wrong turn and ceded the win to Massimo Ghirotto.

In 1989, racing for Z-Peugeot, he was close to victory in the Dauphiné Libéré, taking a stage en route to second place. In the Tour de France, he finished 10th and added stage 10 from Cauterets to Superbagnères. He also won the Tour of Britain.

Victory in the Dauphiné Libéré arrived in 1990, along with a fourth place in the Giro di Lombardia. In between, he also took second place in the 1990 Tour of Britain.

During the mid-1980s Millar appeared in television commercials for Kellogg's 'Start' cereal. A one-hour Granada Television documentary about Millar's 1985 racing season, entitled The High Life, which also included appearances by Allan Peiper and music by Steve Winwood, was screened in Britain on the eve of the 1986 Tour de France.

[edit] Later career

The final years of his career were less successful. Riding for the Dutch TVM Squad, he completed the Tour de France in 1991 (72nd), 1992 (18th) and 1993 (24th), and the Vuelta in 1992 (20th) and 1993 (15th), and achieved numerous top 10 finishes, but victories eluded him. His final major victory came in June 1995 when he won the British road race championship. However, soon afterwards, his French team, Le Groupement, went bust and Millar retired.

In 1997 he became British coach, and in 1998 managed the Scottish team in the PruTour, an eight-day round-Britain stage race.

Millar was also a cycling journalist, testing new products. He then cut his ties with the sport. In 2003 he was inducted to the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame but didn't attend the ceremony.

A book about Millar - In Search of Robert Millar, by Richard Moore - was published by HarperCollins in 2007. The author made email contact with Millar and their exchanges form the epilogue. The Daily Mail said it had located Millar in a Dorset village, living as a woman, but this article has since been removed from the web site and appears unconfirmed .^[1]

A 1985 TV documentary Robert Millar - The High Life was rediscovered and screened, simultaneously with the release of the book, at Edinburgh Bike Week Film Festival on 26 June 2007.^[2]. A DVD versiion of the documentary was released in 2008. ^[3]

[edit] Palmares

[edit] Teams

• 1980-1981: Peugeot - Esso - Michelin (France)
• 1982-1985: Peugeot - Shell - Michelin (France)
• 1986: Panasonic (Netherlands)
• 1987: Panasonic - Isostar (Netherlands)
• 1988: Fagor - MBK (France)
• 1989: Z - Peugeot (France)
• 1990-1991: Z (France)
• 1992: TVM - Sanyo (Netherlands)
• 1993-1994: TVM - Bison Kit (Netherlands)
• 1995: Le Groupement (France)

[edit] References

v • d • e Tour de France Polka dot jersey winners 1933 Trueba · 1934 Vietto · 1935 Vervaecke · 1936 Berrendero · 1937 Vervaecke · 1938 Bartali · 1939 Maes · 1947 Brambilla · 1948 Bartali · 1949 Coppi · 1950 Bobet · 1951 Géminiani · 1952 Coppi · 1953 Loroño · 1954 Bahamontes · 1955–1956 Gaul · 1957 Nencini · 1958–1959 Bahamontes · 1960–1961 Massignan · 1962–1964 Bahamontes · 1965–1967 Jiménez · 1968 González · 1969–1970 Merckx · 1971–1972 Van Impe · 1973 Torres · 1974 Perurena · 1975 Van Impe · 1976 Bellini · 1977 Van Impe · 1978 Martínez · 1979 Battaglin · 1980 Martin · 1981 Van Impe · 1982 Vallet · 1983 Van Impe · 1984 Millar · 1985 Herrera · 1986 Hinault · 1987 Herrera · 1988 Rooks · 1989 Theunisse · 1990 Claveyrolat · 1991–1992 Chiappucci · 1993 Rominger · 1994–1997 Virenque · 1998 Rinero · 1999 Virenque · 2000 Botero · 2001–2002 Jalabert · 2003–2004 Virenque · 2005–2006 Rasmussen · 2007 Soler · 2008 Kohl