Document:
/ Robert Millar – Compiled with the aid of WikipediaDate:
/ October 2007Robert 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 ever Tour finishing position for a British cyclist, and the first time that a Briton has won one of the major Tour classifications. He also achieved the highest ever finish by a Briton in the Giro d'Italia, finishing second in 1987 and winning the King of the Mountains classification too. He is also notable in that he was a vegetarian sportsman. He is not related to fellow Scot and cycling namesake David Millar.
Early life
Raised in Glasgow and at one time destined for a career as a factory engineer, 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 firmly on the British scene. He was 21st in the Milk Race, and won the British amateur road race championship. He then moved to France in 1979 to join the elite ACBB (Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt), then Europe's top amateur team. A year later, after retaining his British road race title, taking fourth place in the world amateur road race championship, claiming five race victories 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.
Professional career
His early professional career included high finishing positions in the Tour of Vaucluse (3rd in 1980), Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré (7th in 1981 and second in 1983), Tour of 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 in the general classification and third in the mountain classification. That year also saw him take second place in the Dauphiné Libéré stage race.
Millar - solo breakaway on the Col de la Bonette, Tour de France, 19931984 saw continued improvement. In the early season Paris-Nice stage "Race to the Sun" he held the overall lead for a while before taking 6th place, and in the
Tour de Romandie he took fifth place overall, the Mountains competition and a stage win at Crans-Montana. It was all good preparation for the Tour de France – he finished fourth overall (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 took another sixth place in Paris-Nice. He also raced well in the Vuelta a España, finishing second overall and taking a stage win (both 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 victory 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 finishing position in a one-day 'Monument' Classic, grabbing 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 towards the finish with Phillipe Bouvatier, both riders mistook a gendarme's signals, took a wrong turn and thereby ceded the win to Massimo Ghirotto.
In 1989, racing for the Z-Peugeot team, he was close to victory in the Dauphiné Libéré, taking a stage en route to second place overall. In the Tour de France, he finished 10th and added another final stage victory to his palmares, taking stage 10 from Cauterets to Superbagnères. He also won the Tour of Britain.
Victory in the Dauphiné Libéré finally arrived in 1990, along with a fourth place in another Classic, the Giro di Lombardia. In between, he also took second place in the 1990 Tour of Britain.
During the mid-1980's Millar could also be seen appearing in television commercials for Kelloggs Start cereal.
Later career
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 dominated and won the British road race championship. However, soon after, his French team, Le Groupement, went bust and Millar quietly retired from the professional ranks.
However, he retained an interest in cycling. In 1997 he became British coach, and in 1998 he managed the Scottish team in the PruTour, an eight-day round-Britain stage race.
Millar was also employed as a cycling journalist, mainly testing out new products due to his expert background. In more recent years, however, he has cut all ties with the sport. In 2003 he was inducted to the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.
HarperCollins published a book about Millar -In Search of Robert Millar, written by Richard Moore in 2007. The author made email contact with Millar and their exchange forms the epilogue to the book. A film was also screened simultaneously with the release of the book; Robert Millar - The High Life was screened at Edinburgh Bike Week Film Festival on 26 June 2007.
Personal information:
Date of birth: September 13, 1958 (1958-09-13) (age 49)
Discipline: Road
Rider type: Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
1980–1985 / Peugeot
1986–1987 / Panasonic
1988 / Fagor
1989–1991 / Z-Peugeot
1992–1994 / TVM
1995 / 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)
Affiliated to the Scottish Cyclists’ Union and British Cycling Federation