Millar having a Tour to forget
In the tenth stage of the 2010 Tour de France, Team Garmin rider David Millar again finished behind the peloton at 16:27, and was also behind stage leader Sergio Paulinho.
Millar had a much more difficult time in the ninth stage, when he had to battle against his injuries to conquer the Col de la Madeleine, the hardest climb of the Tour so far. He barely finished the stage within the time limit, nearly repeating his performance in the 2001 Tour de France when he abandoned the race on that very same climb.
"I really thought I was out of the race,” he said. “I was 30 minutes down with 80km to go. By the time I got to the finish, I didn’t know if I’d made the time cut — all I knew was that I’d finished. And at the Tour, it’s about finishing."
He described the stage today as a cakewalk compared to yesterday, and despite being the 177th rider across the line, he was smiling, as his confidence was renewed that he could hope to push through his injuries and still cross the finish line in Paris.
"I’ve got industrial strapping all over me but it was a much less difficult stage. It was perfect for me, where as it was just too hard yesterday. Now I just hope the next few days will be okay for me."
Millar explained that he broke up the climb into 5km intervals and, with the memory of his failure to finish the same climb almost ten years before, managed to push through while the crowd along the road cheered him on. Desperate to make the time limit, he sprinted down the mountain to the finish line at full speed, which only aggravated his injuries, to put an end to one of his worst days on a bicycle.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, at the age of 23, David Millar won the opening time-trial of the 2000 Tour de France, first earning him prominence and then a suspension after admitting to doping. As ambitious and outspoken as ever, Millar joined Team Garmin three years ago and finished third place in this year’s prologue as the team captain. His goal in this Tour was to support Tyler Farrar and Christian Vande Velde, though he admitted it would be wonderful to get an individual result.
“At the Tour, I am content to play this role,” said Millar. “It’s my role within this team and I love this team. I derive a lot of pleasure from helping us achieve big results. And at the Tour de France, those will come from Tyler and Christian, so it’s only natural that I put all my energies into that.”
With Vande Velde abandoning the Tour after stage two and now Millar falling behind the group, the team may be in trouble. Farrar is a sprinter, but having his closest allies to offer him a good lead-out, he may not have what it takes to leave a mark.
Suffering rib injuries, fever and influenza, the Briton still hasn’t given up, though he admits he is not getting any better. With four crashes in the second stage and nearly failing to finish the 9th at 42 minutes behind the stage leader, he has two new contenders for his worst day on a bike. One of the most gifted riders at his peak, Millar knows the Tour de France is not something to give up lightly.
"Now I'm going to fix myself short-term and long-term goals. One of the long-term goals is the final time trial. I know there is a long week in the mountains before getting there but I know the injury should not be a handicap for my time trial position and I can pull off a good performance."
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