Author Topic: Millar out too (Read 2653 times)

jane · « **on:** 30 June, 2014, 04:18:15 pm »

https://twitter.com/millarmind/status/483598631682207744
Really sad to hear this...been following his racing career, both highs and lows for years. Despite everything, always liked him.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 June, 2014, 04:33:56 pm »

Hmm, I was under the impression this was to be his "swan song" tour.

marcusjb · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 June, 2014, 04:36:00 pm »

I think he was as well!

That's a great shame - he's someone I have grown to respect despite everything that makes me want to not do so.

bobb · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 June, 2014, 05:47:17 pm »

Quote from: Jonathan Vaughters

We are very sorry to leave David Millar home due to illness.

Quote from: David Millar

So sad my team didn't believe in me, after everything we've been through. Not cool.

Funny how all the teams are saying the riders they've left out are ill.....

Ham · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 June, 2014, 09:44:58 pm »

Well he sounds as sick as a parrot about it

Frank9755 · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 June, 2014, 10:14:31 pm »

Quote from: bobb on 30 June, 2014, 05:47:17 pm

Funny how all the teams are saying the riders they've left out are ill.....

Maybe it comes under the incremental gains philosophy: if you practise lying at every opportunity then you get better at it for when you need to tell a real whopper?

LEE · « **Reply #6 on:** 01 July, 2014, 09:03:03 am »

Are we talking about David "EPO" Millar?

No sympathy I'm afraid. Someone probably lost a place in a team or on the podium due to his "enhanced performances".

caerau · « **Reply #7 on:** 01 July, 2014, 09:21:47 am »

Hmm, I think he's done a LOT to make up for that in the intervening time.

I expect the sarcy comments I get at arrives will die down now he's retiring (our names are *very* similar

)

marcusjb · « **Reply #8 on:** 01 July, 2014, 09:40:18 am »

Quote from: Caerau on 01 July, 2014, 09:21:47 am

I expect the sarcy comments I get at arrives will die down now he's retiring (our names are *very* similar )

He gets ever so embarrassed at every stage sign on as well -"are you that David Millar?"

caerau · « **Reply #9 on:** 01 July, 2014, 09:47:43 am »

Really did laugh out loud there

More like - MY you've lost weight

ranran · « **Reply #10 on:** 01 July, 2014, 10:04:50 am »

it seems a shame with the rise of the home grown riders and the interest in the tour with three stages here ,there will only be three british riders taking part.

Veloman · « **Reply #11 on:** 01 July, 2014, 10:09:24 am »

Quote from: ranran on 01 July, 2014, 10:04:50 am

it seems a shame with the rise of the home grown riders and the interest in the tour with three stages here ,there will only be three british riders taking part.

Cycling is big business, so teams (businesses) will field the team they consider will have best chance of achieving their aims (wins).

No room for sentimentality whatsoever IMO. You're either good enough (which is more than physical performance) or not. Otherwise we would see a lot more French riders!

LEE · « **Reply #12 on:** 01 July, 2014, 10:18:45 am »

Quote from: Caerau on 01 July, 2014, 09:21:47 am

Hmm, I think he's done a LOT to make up for that in the intervening time.

Good.

LittleWheelsandBig · « **Reply #13 on:** 01 July, 2014, 10:28:28 am »

Performance for a professional cyclist isn't just about wins in the palmares, it is column inches in print or time on TV. British riders provide much more of those measures in the British media than Unpronouncable from Anywhere-stan.

ranran · « **Reply #14 on:** 01 July, 2014, 10:36:23 am »

As Sky has put all its eggs in one basket with Froome,what would their plan be if something happens to him? Porte is a good rider but not up with the best in the high mountains. His relationship with Brad must have been extremely poor for them not to taken him along as insurance,he looked in fine form in the British time trials...

LEE · « **Reply #15 on:** 01 July, 2014, 11:20:02 am »

Quote from: ranran on 01 July, 2014, 10:36:23 am

As Sky has put all its eggs in one basket with Froome,what would their plan be if something happens to him? Porte is a good rider but not up with the best in the high mountains. His relationship with Brad must have been extremely poor for them not to taken him along as insurance,he looked in fine form in the British time trials...

I'm struggling to like Froome, he's a bit "Steve Davis on a bike" (although I'll be cheering him on).

I won't be cheering as hard as I'll be cheering Wiggo on the track though.

TimC · « **Reply #16 on:** 01 July, 2014, 01:06:23 pm »

Quote from: ranran on 01 July, 2014, 10:04:50 am

it seems a shame with the rise of the home grown riders and the interest in the tour with three stages here ,there will only be three british riders taking part.

Four - Simon Yates is in for O-GE. The only English-born rider in the race.

jane · « **Reply #17 on:** 01 July, 2014, 01:12:12 pm »

It's a hard, tough sport and obviously no sentimentality...Millar's Twitter comment seemed to imply he realised that...no griping or moaning, able to laugh at himself, although he is, reportedly, pretty upset about it. Not perfect, no, hell no, but I still would have liked the chance to see him ride one more TdF.

Nuncio · « **Reply #18 on:** 01 July, 2014, 01:54:16 pm »

At least he managed that two-lap Champs Elysees lone break last year. In retrospect, a good way to go out on your last Tour.

sojournermike · « **Reply #19 on:** 01 July, 2014, 02:17:56 pm »

As an aside, it's interesting that he suggested that his use of EPO followed the stress of being beaten by Jan Ulrich in the prologue time trial in 2003...

Veloman · « **Reply #20 on:** 01 July, 2014, 04:34:57 pm »

Quote from: ranran on 01 July, 2014, 10:36:23 am

As Sky has put all its eggs in one basket with Froome,what would their plan be if something happens to him?

Same risk other teams have with people like Contador, Nibali etc. If they lose the No 1 rider they just go for stage wins.

Quote from: ranran on 01 July, 2014, 10:36:23 am

His relationship with Brad must have been extremely poor for them not to taken him along as insurance, he looked in fine form in the British time trials...

From what I have read (including between the lines) it is not good at all.

rafletcher · « **Reply #21 on:** 02 July, 2014, 01:57:21 pm »

From a review of Froomes biography published in the Guardian last week..

"Someone not deterred by its lack of an index has claimed that The Climb contains no fewer than 300 references to Wiggins, a statistic that alone indicates the depth of Froome's commitment to a project that amounted to regicide. There is a passive-aggressive undertone to his criticisms of his rival's behaviour which, when combined with Wiggins's notorious moodswings, makes it easy to appreciate why the two men never got on. Their estrangement was revealed to the public only by a Twitter spat between their respective partners during the 2012 Tour, but Froome makes it clear that their relationship was poor from the moment they were biletted together during the previous year's Vuelta a España. "We are not a good mix. Brad is shy and reserved with people and I am much the same, which means we don't bring the best out of each other. Actually, we don't bring anything out of each other."

Exit Stage Left · « **Reply #22 on:** 02 July, 2014, 02:27:05 pm »

Wiggo's road career is much like Millar's, apart from the period from 2008 to 2012. Tony Martin is another similar rider. Wiggo should now be in Martin's place, working on getting the pace up on the run-in for Cavendish, marshalling the TTT and placing high in the individual TTs. But this years Tour is not suitable for that.

Byronius Maximus · « **Reply #23 on:** 02 July, 2014, 11:41:20 pm »

Quote from: Caerau on 01 July, 2014, 09:21:47 am

Hmm, I think he's done a LOT to make up for that in the intervening time.

+1

LEE, I'd suggest reading Millar's autobiography. A fascinating read and one which helped me see that doping isn't the black and white issue that I thought it was. Millar stands head and shoulders above most others who have been caught for doping, thanks to the way he has used his experience to bring change to the sport, so it does annoy me when I see people label him as an evil doper.