Robert Millar - Interview - 1986 Tour de France

Millar gives an honest account of a long hard day in the saddle

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• sadsms
• robert
• millar
• hinault
• lemond
• sean
• kelly
• yates
• ocana
• herrera
• van
• impe
• claveyrolat
• tour
• de
• france
• 1983
• 1984
• 1985
• king
• of
• the
• mountains

[dan32113]

@MickHaines i stand corrected! I do think it is a shame he was robbed in the 85 Vuelta. Having 5 or 6 mins with 2 days to go, & lose! How? he was jobbed. Millar was a world class cyclist, by the amount of times he won stages not only in grand tours but in Romandie/ Dauphine etc. If you haven"t read the book on him, do so! Its 10/10 the best biography i"ve ever read! He did it his way, runner up 3 years running in a grand tour, thats top class!

[MickHaines]

@dan32113

Man, in those days the Vuelta was raced in May, before the Tour de France. In 1986 Millar never really recovered from that Tour and struggled through the end of the season. He didn't even attend the Worlds in Colorado Springs. He did make the Top 20 in Lombardy though.

[dan32113]

I remember Robert got sick, & pulled out! But came back strong & finished runner up again in the Vuelta. A straight talking hardman, respect!

[xpoxpoxpoxpo]

Didn't know this was a talk bollocks blog.... stumbled across it whilst looking for robert millar footage.

[PerignonPop]

And, last waffle for now ( :-)) , having said that, in terms of Nature vs. Nurture, growing up in an austere, possibly depressed Northern European setting with attendant Calvinism or stern Roman Catholicism can only be instrumental in shaping the man or woman you become. Negative and positive. Similar cultures encourage similar tendencies and attitudes in their offspring. Graeme Souness said he didn't know any good losers, just losers. (Think he choreyed that one off Vince Lombardi?) Peace.

[PerignonPop]

@WELLBRAN Maybe, it's been commented on before (the chippy, aggressive, stoic Celtic competitor thing) but I'm more inclined as I get older to think that, with the same attributes present in non-Celts from Tel Aviv, Lagos, Beijing, North Dakota, Seville, etcetera, etcetera, that we are "All Jock Tamson's Bairns" as the saying goes and there are more things that make us the same irrespective of race, nationality, etc., than there are things that make us different.

[WELLBRAN]

@PerignonPop cyrille guimard of renault said he never met a champion who was "nice" Murray has that and I think he has a stone face to guard against the media hyping him up, I can see that, Millar was not afraid of hinault as he was stubborn, as a Cornishman I can work out hinault I know the type of character he was but you have to stand up to him to gain respect, millar was doing that. murray also is not impressed with reputation, maybe its a Celt thing!

[PerignonPop]

@WELLBRAN Good man. I know the laddie's 'difficult', but he's been through a lot that others haven't and is just desperate to win. Suffers from chronic frustration and angst. He has the ability, but all his former coaches question his mental fortitude and self-control. I'd like the doubters to be proved wrong. Not everyone can be as sexy and continental as Rafa, eh? Cheers now bruv.

[WELLBRAN]

@PerignonPop Dom, point taken that would stay with you I like Murray anyway and I want him to smile yeah he is a winner which is good he has the mindset of a champion got to feel for him being around nadal and federer will not lie down just yet.

[PerignonPop]

@WELLBRAN Aye, but I'd have to take exception with the allusion to Andy Murray.

If you had survived the Dunblane Massacre by virtue of being pulled under a table to safety by your Primary teacher while the maniac Thomas Hamilton blew away your classmates and friends do you seriously think you would have grown up to be a bright and breezy personality? Murray has issues, but when he retires I hope he is as revered as Graeme Sounness. Boy's a winner (and a Hibby). All the best, Dom