robert millarrobert millar

The Stolen Vuelta .........................................................................................................................................................................................................

palmares | a funny guy | the stolen vuelta | a peiper's tale |the spanish years |
honour| the small yin | setting the record straight | the book |
robert millar colnago c40 review | 1988 winning magazine interview | training | the outsider |
2008 interview | british road champion | the 2011 tour de France

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bike magazine cover

The following interview came into my hands through a chance meeting with the interviewer, Matthew Ball after the 2006 Braveheart Ride in Kilmarnock. Matthew interviewed Robert for an article in Bike Magazine, May 1998. Not only am I indebted to Matthew for e-mailing the article, but to the current editor of Bike Magazine, John Westlake for permission to reproduce.

Canny Scot Robert Millar, the only Briton to wear the coveted Tour de France King of the Mountains jersey and formerly ranked eighth in the world, talks to Matthew Ball about motorbikes, crashing and crapping in his hat.

How did you get into biking?
At the Tour de France the TV camera crews and police use motorbikes. They'd whizz by as I was slogging up the mountain passes, so it looked more fun than what I was doing. I started while living in France (I did the written bike test in French), blatting across fields outside my house on a Honda NX250 so I didn't hurt myself if I fell off.

What do you ride?
A Ducati 748SPS. I've also got two Giant push-bikes - a mountain bike and a serious racing bike. The 748 is for serious fun so I only ride it on warm days. I've done all that freezing your hands off on a push-bike. I've ridden push bikes so much that it's no fun anymore but I have to keep my hand in now I'm British Cycle Racing Advisor.

ducati 748sps

Why a 748?
I was racing in Italy when the 916 first came out, but it was too expensive. So I waited for the 748. I bought my one second-hand off a mate. I like its lines, the way it looks, the riding position and the sound I'm used to an aerodynamic race crouch on a push-bike so I need a similar position on a motorbike or I'd get backache. The tank is quite small on the 748 so I fit it well, I'd find a Fireblade too big and wide for me.

Has cycling helped your bike riding?
Not really. Tyre technology is different. If your tyres slide on a push-bike, you're knackered - you go down. The line going round corners is about the same but you can't accelerate through them on a push-bike and stay balanced. There's no power in the back wheel so you don't have as much control. When I began biking, I found the co-ordination between my hands and feet difficult. Riding a push-bike doesn't require any co-ordination, you just sit there for five or six hours holding the handlebars tight and pedalling.

Five or six hours. What did you do when you needed the loo?
If you're doing a six-hour race you need to do a piss at least once, You have to ask permission from the other racers to go ahead, But if it's a fast race, you can't do that and keep up. So a team mate-mate has to push you along. You have to learn a technique and, if you come off, it could get messy. Sometimes, if you're desperate, you have to crap while riding. You just do it in your cotton hat and throw it to the side of the road. The trouble is, fans pick up anything that's thrown down from the bunch,

Have you had any bad crashes?
Not on a motorbike, but cycling's a different story all togetherÉ It's down to luck. Most crashes are in towns or in the bunch. With 200 riders you can't see much so you sometimes miss roundabouts and lamp posts. One year I fell about 11 times and ended up covered in cuts. One guy fell in front of me and I rode over his neck, it was just like bumping up a pavement. He was okay, though, and I didn't fall. Another time, I was riding home after one stage of a five-day race near Perpignan. It was a fast descent and I crashed and hit my spine on the Kerb. I lay there unable to feel my legs - I was paralysed for six hours. It scared me because my legs are my livelihood and it focused my mind. I went on to win the final stage of the race 3 days later.

How many miles do you cycle a year?
I only recorded it once, and in a year when I didn't do much racing, it still amounted to 20,000 miles.

What does it feel like to win?
It's satisfying, but basically it means you've got a job for the following season. I was happy but not ecstatic. I just liked racing. I liked being there. I gave my trophies to the team, as they always meant more to them than me. I couldn't see the point in medals and cups. The Tour de France may look glamorous on TV but it isn't like that when you are grovelling up mountains. The glamour is on the outside - it's a load of hard work and that's all it is. The better you are the harder it gets, and the more training you need - that's when it starts getting boring.

You are not painting a very good picture
It's extreme and it has its limitations, but I still enjoyed it.

How fast do you go on a push bike?
On a normal mountain descent you're doing 40-60mph. When you reach those sort of speeds, it gets frightening. To go faster you have to control your fear, stay relaxed. If you tense up you'll crash. I know the limit on a push bike and I'm comfortable with it, but I've yet to find the limits of my motorbike.

Fancy doing any motorbike racing?
I'm not good enough. You need to start young, when you are crazy and your reflexes are good enough to take being bounced down the road a few times. I don't want to do that. I've done some excellent track days at Donington Park, though. One time Naill Mackenzie whizzed past with one hand on the bars - that tends to put things into perspective.

Do you watch bike races?
Yeah. But I have to work weekends, I have to watch poxy cycle races in Leeds or somewhere! I'd much rather be watching the Superbikes at Donnington.

What is your favourite journey?
I only like blasting from one place to the next. I don't ride like German's do, pottering about the Alps doing 40mph and looking at the countryside. I've ridden a push-bike all across Europe and seen it all. It begins to look the same and gets boring after a while. I like blasting over to the Cotswolds, walking into the posh tea shops in Stowe on the Wold and shocking the stuck up ladies.

Are cyclists and bikers different?
Cyclists are snobbier than bikers, but they're not half as bad as normal people. I've met lots of people through cycling. I met Billy Connolly and he's my hero. Jeez, he even new who I was! ducati 748sps

What about music? Bicycle race by Queen or Born to be wild by Steppenwolf?
Oh, definitely Queen. Women's arses always look too big on a saddle - they flop over the sides. But on the Queen album they were perfect. Sorry was that sexist?

It's a beautiful summer's day. What do you take, the 748 or the push-bike?
That's a bloody difficult decision but I'm looking forward to making it.

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................

palmares | a funny guy | the stolen vuelta | a peiper's tale |the spanish years |
honour| the small yin | setting the record straight | the book |
robert millar colnago c40 review | 1988 winning magazine interview | training | the outsider |
2008 interview | british road champion | the 2011 tour de France

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................