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in search of robert millar - the return

amazing to think that it's a year since the publication of the hardback of richard moore's 'in search of robert millar', but indeed it is. so, as is the way in the world of publishing, that now is the time for the paperback version.

harpersports released the paperback (softcover anyone?) on june 2nd 2008 for those of you who vowed never to spend money on a hardback, when the paperback is bound to arrive eventually. this version costs £8.99, and has had an afterword added to bring some things up to date. there is also a complete millar palmares preceding an excellent index.

and although it's not strictly a robert millar matter, on june 16th harpersport will also publish richard's follow up, featuring yet another top scottish cyclist, chris hoy. 'heroes, villains and velodromes' follows the fame and fortunes of hoy up until the recent manchester track world championships - effectively the build up to the beijing olympics later this year. you will love every word, scottish or not.

form an orderly queue now.

posted saturday 7th june 2008

the eyes have it

the april 2008 issue of cycle sport features a history of oakley cycle glasses and the riders who have worn their oddly named eyewear. unsurprisingly, the snippet featuring robert millar runs contrary to the norm:

"during the 1990 season, millar won the dauphine wearing the offending article, which clashed horrifically with his fluorescent z jersey.
in the early 1990s, when millar rode for the z team with greg lemond, he was approached by an oakley agent interested in doing a deal with the scottish rider. the agent opened a briefcase of oakley's glasses and millar sifted through them, making uncomplimentary noises about most models.
that was, until he came across a pair of frogskins - oakley's homage to the rayban, but which bore more than a passing resemblance to a pair of national health service specs.
"millar was taken with them. 'oh, they're not for wearing on the bike,' said the oakley rep. that was enough for millar. he took them, and wore them on the bike."

nuff said.

posted saturday 22 march 2008

finding robert millar

as some of you in the uk may be aware, the daily mail newspaper ran an article just over tour de france start weekend, purporting to have found robert millar, alive and well in the south of england, but now known as philippa york.

the photograph of robert/philippa might be, might not be, but since robert has not been in the public eye for many a year, this was a gross invasion of privacy. like many of robert's fans, thewashingmachinepost celebrates britain's finest ever tour rider on these pages and whatever/wherever robert is today, is his business, and his business alone.

final word.

posted tuesday 10 july 2007

read the book review here

author richard moore, writer of the 'honour' article in these very pages, has written a biography of robert entitled 'in search of robert millar'. the book is due for publication by harper collins on june 4 2007. richard has interviewed many of those closely, and not so closely, involved with robert's career, and with more than a modest amount of assistance from ex scottish pro brian smith.

judging by the amount of interest millar still generates on the cycling forums, harper collins could almost schedule a reprint now. click here for more details.

in search of robert millar - on islay

in the never ending quest to spread the word, thewashingmachinepost, in conjunction with velo club d'ardbeg invited author richard moore to ardbeg's old kiln cafe on the evening of sunday 17th june for a local book launch and signing. while we were unable to compete with the 300+ that attended a similar function in edinburgh, as a percentage of islay's population, we were actually well up on the country's capital.

similarly to edinburgh, we started proceedings with a viewing of granada's 'the high life' documentary (courtesy of bromley video - this should be released on dvd in the near future), then richard brought everyone up to speed with the millar story, gave some insights into the writing of the book, and happily answered questions from the audience, some of whom had travelled to islay for the occasion.

many books were signed (see photo), the occasional dram consumed (thanks to jackie at ardbeg for hospitality) and we presented richard with a bottle of ardbeg'almost there' and a matching tasting glass.

we'd like to thank, in no particular order, ardbeg distillery, the lochside hotel, bowmore, and port ellen book festival. maybe we'll do the same when the paperback comes out. .........................................................................................................................................................................................................
robert millar

the washingmachinepost takes great pride in creating pages dedicated to britain's and scotland's greatest ever pro bike rider. king of the mountains in the tour de france in 1984 and fourth overall, the highest placing by any british rider even now, twenty two years later. (it should also be noted that millar came third in the competition in 1983 and 1985, an achievement that seems almost to have been overlooked.)

robert used to work for procycling magazine as a journalist, adviser and bike tester and I may yet find the time to reprint some of robert's bike tests (read robert's colnago c40 test).

I must extend my debt of gratitude to cycle sport, cycling weekly, mousehold press, richard moore and rouleur for allowing me to 'reprint' much of the material seen here. and i need to give a special mention to lance sanderson, robert z millar who not only sent me the short piece below, but a number of pictures of robert that i didn't have. they have now been peppered throughout the articles in this section.
In 1984 I won a 'Fibre de Carbone' Peugeot bike, but it wasn't exactly, and I mean exactly,the same spec. as my hero's. I contacted Robert again for a Simplex SLJ 5500 rear mech. after RJ Chicken importers quoted me something like £150 for the same piece ! He very kindly gave one to Sean Yates who, when briefly returning to the UK, posted it to me. A very generous gift, and I wish I could convey my outstanding gratitude to the respect-deserving-fellow-countryman

the grand parade of polka dots

thanks to the ever watchful john cunningham, if you fancy seeing robert millar win stage 11 (guzet niege) of the 1984 tour and riding into the annals of history, check out this link to youtube

and then the day that robert got sent the wrong way

we are not worthy, we are indeed, not worthy

rouleur four - march 2007

rapha's designer journal of cycling, rouleur features a double page spread of robert in panasonic gear along with an article entitled 'the eagle of the gorbals' by william fotheringham. and it gives a nice plug for 'in search of..' by richard moore. coincidentally there is also a multi-page feature on ernesto colnago and his bikes.

do you need any more reasons to buy?

still no word on the release of the high life on dvd. richard moore was apparently interviewed for an addition to the end of the dvd but so far no release date. information as soon as.

meanwhile, david bromley sent me a copy of 'the brit pack - a history of british riders in the tour de france' double disc dvd. released 2003, there is an entire video chapter about robert in the tour in 1983 and excellent footage and interviews during his crowning year in 1984. there is also, incidentally, some yellow jersey podium footage of robert at the kelloggs tour of britain during a feature on fellow brit, malcolm elliot.

a full review of this dvd is on thewashingmachinepost, but if you're a millar fan - this is worth the price of admission alone (£31.99).

john cunningham very kindly sent me this link to a video on youtube of millar's stage win at superbagneres during the 1989 tour. quality is a bit naff but the ponytail is visible and this was during the halcyon days of team z (and one of the best jerseys seen in the peloton in my humble opinion.) and then i found this on the bbc website, a bizarre combination of robert in 1984 being interviewed by scots pop singer, barbara dickson. you'll need real player for this one.

there's training, and there's training

the following couple of paragraphs appear as the introduction to an article in rouleur magazine (issue 2) entitled 'cafe cultured' by will fotheringham. publisher and owner of rapha, simon mottram has very kindly given permission for reproduction here. this sums robert up very succinctly...

as with so many sides of cycling, it was robert millar who put the difference between british and continental attitudes to the bike in a nutshell. why stop for a cup of tea when out training, asked the former king of the mountains, when you could have one when you got home? either you were training or you weren't.

millar was not averse to the odd gateau. there was a cake shop halfway between the airport in paris and his home in the eastern france town of troyes where he would stop on the way home: to celebrate if he had gone well, to raise morale if he had fallen apart. but the thing was, the cake had its place: either you were training, or you weren't.

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