Dave Brailsford commends David Millar for Worlds performance
Dave Brailsford, performance director at British Cycling, has praised time-trialist David Millar for his performance at the UCI Road World Championships.
Millar, who rides for US outfit Garmin-Transitions when not competing for his country, did extraordinarily well to finish second behind Swiss veteran Fabian Cancellara, who ended up clinching the victory
with just over a minute to spare.
"I think that was the best ride of Dave's career," said Brailsford, who is also team director at British outfit Sky. "He came out and got right on it from the off. I think he has been exemplary, in the
last few days."
Aside from earning the British team its first medal at the Worlds, the 33-year-old has also set an example for his younger teammates. Brailsford expressed admiration for the Malta-born rider's attitude.
"In the run up, he has been the perfect teammate, a good example to the young lads, fantastic with Mark [Cavendish] and he was out on the roadside cheering on Emma [Pooley] yesterday. And, they were all
out cheering him on today."
Returned in 2006 after doping ban
In 2004, Millar was handed a personally devastating two-year ban after testing positive for a variant of EPO, a performance-enhancing drug that has commonly been used by athletes.
Since 2006 return to professional cycling, Millar has won three stages in the Grand Tours. He finished third in the prologue of this year's Tour de France. In 2008, he joined Garmin-Transitions as the
team sought to establish an anti-doping profile.
After praising Millar's performance in Wednesday's race, Brailsford added that no rider could have challenged Cancellara, who won his fourth Worlds gold medal in five years.
"There are two gold medals, there is one for Fabian and one for everyone else. He is quite far ahead of everyone else, and he has been for some time."
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