In Search of Robert Millar
Unravelling the Mystery Surrounding Britain's Most Successful Tour De France Cyclist
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In Search of Robert Millar is the story of the life and career of one of this country's great cyclists, from his tough upbringings in Sixties Glasgow to his successes in one of the world's greatest and toughest sporting contests, the Tour de France where he established himself as one of the finest climbers of the 1980s and Britain's best ever Tour rider. Aptly described as "mercurial" (and he is not the only Scottish sporting legend to be described thus), Millar's life after cycling has been something of a mystery, something that this book sets out to unravel.
Richard Moore is one of the most well qualified people to write the biography of Millar, not only is he a sports journalist of some repute, but he has encountered Millar on a number of occasions, including being a member of the 1998 Scotland team in the PruTour, a team managed by Millar himself. Moore does not hide the fact that he is a fan of Millar, but he does not view his subject through rose-tinted spectacles - indeed, often it is the opposite.
It is a book that is over due. When first published in 2007, London was about to host the Grand Depart of the Tour, yet the achievements of the country's greatest Tour rider are largely forgotten. If you were to ask anyone with a passing interest in cycling to name Britain's greatest Tour de France rider, the chances are that Tom Simpson, Chris Boardman or David Millar will be the answers. Yet little more than 20 years ago there was just one name on every British cycle fans lips: Robert Millar. Between 1983 and 1993, Millar rode 11 Tours and of the eight he completed, he finished inside the top 20 six times. He won three stages and in 1984 he won the King of the Mountains jersey and finished fourth overall (behind Laurent Fignon, Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond), the best ever place by a British rider. Yet so complete has been is apparent disappearance that 15 years since his last Tour, Britain's greatest ever Tour de France cyclist is virtually forgotten and his whereabouts unknown.
It is not only in the Tour de France that Millar excelled: every year between 1984 and 1990, he finished in the top ten in either the Vuelta a Espana (second in 1985 and 1986), the Giro d'Italia (second in 1987) or the Tour de France. So he is also Britain's best ever grand tour rider.
Robert Millar came very close to winning the 1985 Vuelta. Why he didn’t is still a matter of conjecture as he was the strongest rider in that year's field. Whether he was the victim of a "Spanish coalition" or perhaps the victim of poor management by the Peugeot directeur sportif, Roland Berland (as Millar himself subsequently claimed in the documentary "The High Life") (NB This was originally released on video but is now deleted. We've been told that an updated DVD is in the early stages of production.) is still a matter for debate. The author sets out what happened with great clarity, providing enough detail to enable the reader to reach his or her own conclusion. Whatever the reason, losing first place soured the atmosphere at Peugeot and by the following season, Millar had joined the Panasonic team.
Moore details Millar's entire career including his British amateur title in 1978, his time with the Parisian ACBB club and his 15 years as a professional, ridding for six different team including Peugeot, Z, Fagor and Le Groupment. The latter is a fascinating tale in its own right - how it signed and shortly afterwards fired fellow-Scot Graham Obree, and finally folded on the eve of the 1995 Tour de France with would have been Millar's 12th.
It was a career full of highs and lows. Moore considers several contenders for the annus horribilis of Millar's career: not being selected for the Tour between 1980 and 1982, the 1985 Vuelta, the 1988 Fagor fiasco (and being directed the wrong way on Guzet Neige, 1992 and the positive drugs test and the dispute with the British Cycling Federation, and finally in 1995, Le Groupment. Take your pick as each is well described.
The story might have ended in the mid-1990s when, as Moore puts it
The career of Britain's best ever cyclist ended abruptly, ignominiously, and without fanfare. His French team went bust on the eve of what would have been his 12th Tour de France, and that was it. The end. Millar disappeared.
This is where the search for Robert Millar starts. From this point onwards the story is one of mystery and rumour, including a tabloid story of a sex change in 2000.
He didn't disappear literally at first: he hovered around the fringes of the cycling scene for a few years - he was British national coach for a while - and he wrote regularly for the cycling press, but as time went on, contact grew less and less. Moore puts together the pieces: his home in Daventry and his subsequent move to Dorset, not responding to the invitation to his induction in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and to the reunion of all the British Tour de France riders in 2005. Finally and unexpectedly there was an exchange of e-mails with Millar in the late summer of 2006 - these are included as the book's epilogue. It is as fine a piece of investigative sports journalism as you could wish to read.
The only thing I feel is missing from the book is some sort of statistical summary of Millar's career, but this does not detract greatly from it.
It is a well-researched and well-written book and, as I said earlier, a book that is well overdue. Does the book achieve what the author sets out to do, namely to unravel the mysteries surrounding Robert Millar? Largely, yes. It is a fascinating read. With British cycling's prestige increasing, Robert Millar's achievements deserve to be brought to the attention of the modern cycling public. This book does just that.
About This Entry
‘In Search of Robert Millar’ was posted by Liam Doyle on Thu, 10th July 2008 at 09:04:05 BST and filed under book reviews.
