David Millar is a former professional cyclist, who won stages of all three Grand Tours, including four at the Tour de France. After being banned for taking performance enhancing drugs, he emerged as an anti-doping campaigner. He is well known for his co-commentary role on ITV’s Tour de France coverage, as well as his former cycling lifestyle brand CHPT3.
This is part of our Q&A series, where we ask some familiar faces some big and small questions.
What was your first bike?
The first bike I remember was a mountain bike, a Marin Bear Valley. Actually, a BMX, a Raleigh Super Tuff Burner in like 1987, I loved that bike. Then the Marin when mountain biking started.
Who was your cycling hero growing up?
Maurizio Fondriest and then Miguel Indurain. Maurizio first because it was 1993, and I just got into road cycling, and that’s when he had his magic year. It was about the time I was first following bike racing, and he won [Milan-] San Remo, and he just looked so cool on the bike. I actually based my riding position when I was young on him, because I just wanted to ride like Maurizio Fondriest. He was my style guru, and then when I turned pro in 1997 he was on the team. I was like 19/20 and I was rooming with him. He was my idol. I got a message from him last year, just a random ‘hey dude, how are you doing?’ and I screen-grabbed it and sent it to my sister. It never goes.
What’s the first race you remember watching?
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It must have been the Tour de France on Channel Four. It was super weird when it came full circle.
How did you deal with the news that ITV’s Tour de France coverage is ending?
It was incredibly sad, because it was such a wonderful thing to do. It was such a privilege to be in that role, and to gain the friendship I formed with Ned [Boulting]. Doing something which was the thing to get me into cycling in the first place – the Channel 4 show – was special. It was weird though, because it was more melancholic than anything, it wasn’t just for me. My family always comes to England when I’m at the Tour, and they always watch that show, and they’re not going to be able to do that anymore. Not only am I not going to go to the Tour with Ned and Pete and have a wonderful time anymore, but the whole show is going to stop. There’s going to be a whole generation that are going to lose the Tour because they’re not going to buy a subscription. It’s a weird one because I felt sorry for myself, but also melancholy for the end of an era.
David Millar with Mark Cavendish at the 2011 World Championships
(Image credit: Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)
What’s the best place cycling has taken you?
It’s too much to say from my cycling career, I always say I was blessed, because I got to do so many amazing things. Then in this kind of Renaissance of cycling in the past couple of years I’ve discovered a whole new cycling, adventures, and just going out and doing these rides where I’m no longer comparing myself with anybody else, or even my old self. I’m going out for the sake of it, and that’s a wonderful discovery.
What changed?
I had a mega low a couple of years ago, I kind of hit rock bottom, and then I came out of that, and I decided to get back on the bike. It’s almost like I had needed nine years to reset, to get back on the bike, and for the first time I wasn’t comparing myself on a bike now to my professional self. Before, I was always thinking I would never be as I used to be, but now I think I’m never going to be as good as I am now, because I’m only going to get worse. That was a lovely revelation. So I enjoy it for what I can do now, I love doing epic stupid stuff.
If you were never in cycling, what would you have done?
I genuinely don’t know. It’s taken all this time to find out what I really like doing, which is a generalist sort of thing, where I love creativity. I’m not a designer, but I love working with designers. I love writing. I think I would have been in the creative world, but I don’t know if I’d have ended up here.
