David Millar´s Book

[El Pistolero]

The other proof is that I don't have a clue who that is.

 

[mwbyrd]

First, Papa...learn how to use the return/enter key on your keyboard.

Now, go back and read what Millar said about Lance. I think you are misinterpreting Millar, he said it will be unforgiveable if it's proven Lance was doping after he (Lance) has denied it for so long. He did not say Lance doped.

This reminds me of the LeMond statement being taken out of context.

 

[Weapons of @ss Destruction]

Millar is certainly no Frankie Andreu, as far as I know Frankie is the only rider off the top of my head who came clean without ever actually being caught.

Google Jerome Chiotti.

 

[Runitout]

Google Jerome Chiotti.

Plus Riis, Zabel, Aldag, Coppi, and countless others.

 

[Martin318is]

fixed that for you.

wayne rooney got a book deal in 5 parts iirc. i think he's 1 volume in. it's possible that some have subsequently been cancelled. it's worth remembering that WR is barely literate.

Yep thats the thing in Britain. Everybody buys everyone autobiographies for Christmas etc. Anyone who is anyone seems to bring out their annual 'update' to the original book. Its an industry all of its own

 

[the_kman]

Seriously whats with british riders? I cant think of any who hasnt got his head up his rear end.

Millar is a cheat. confesses when he is caught. he gets suspended. comes back in good form and denounces his own actions. --and suddenly-- he is a hero against doping.

and now he gets to denounce others and call for closure on other cases
(thanks millar, we really needed your permission). He writes a book that probably is gonna be a pommy bawww-fest about why he doped and how depressed he was after so that in years to come he will have changed his image from cheat to one of the good guys. load of bull.

if your gonna cheat. do the time and move on. sif be all anti doping massiah about it.

 

[Andy99]

Seriously whats with british riders? I cant think of any who hasnt got his head up his rear end.

Millar is a cheat. confesses when he is caught. he gets suspended. comes back in good form and denounces his own actions. --and suddenly-- he is a hero against doping.

and now he gets to denounce others and call for closure on other cases
(thanks millar, we really needed your permission). He writes a book that probably is gonna be a pommy bawww-fest about why he doped and how depressed he was after so that in years to come he will have changed his image from cheat to one of the good guys. load of bull.

if your gonna cheat. do the time and move on. sif be all anti doping massiah about it.

Simple solution to that problem of yours; Don't read it.

 

[Matty_Tucks]

Listening to Millar speak, he is one of the most sincere riders in he peloton and I believe a lot of what he says. I'm buying his book, its worth it and it'll be an interesting read.

 

[jens_attacks]

david millar is one of the reasons i want to see riccardo ricco back in the world tour whooping aszes.

 

[Chuffy]

Plus Riis, Zabel, Aldag, Coppi, and countless others.

...with the exception of Coppi (different times) the others all 'confessed' after they'd hung their wheels up. Can you name a modern era rider (post 98) who came clean during their career without being caught?

 

[Angliru]

I preface this post by saying I believe Lance Armstrong 100% doped like every other top rider throughout the 90's and possibly even to this day. With that said, you, Mr. Millar, are a hypocrit! You have the nerve to say today that if Lance Armstrong doped his actions should be "unforgiveable". I laugh at you. You doped, still never won anything significant outside of a few cheap World TT championships when nobody else showed up, went down in disgrace when you got CAUGHT by the French police, served your suspension and came back where you were welcomed by the peloton, fans and the media. Then you write a book to make money on how you doped. You achieved forgiveness and fortune then say LA shouldn't be forgiven? Lance meanwhile, true to his competitive nature and pride will never admit he doped, why should he? Everyone else doped too, he won fair and square. Maybe traveling the world to raise millions and millions of dollars for cancer research isn't enough for you. Maybe Lance inspiring millions of people to Live Strong isn't enough for you. What have you ever done other than sell a book for monetary gain to help society? Mr. Millar you should be ashamed of yourself and you should choose your words carefully on whom you speak against. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Oh, by the way, win something already, you're overrated as a bicycle racer.

"Everyone else" did not dope. I suggest you read up on the riders that were known to be clean by their cheating teammates during your hero's reign.

 

[Tuarts]

I usually avoid autobiographies on the grounds that they're unlikely to be objective. Also, I would much rather have seen a Millar bio after his career had ended as I'm sure he has held a lot back for fear of upsetting people/making enemies.
.

Why would you want an autobiography to be objective? Its an insight into a persons thoughts and feelings.

 

[Chuffy]

Why would you want an autobiography to be objective? Its an insight into a persons thoughts and feelings.

Precisely. I'm more interested in a balanced, objective perspective, which is why I don't particularly like autobiographies. By their very nature they cannot possibly be objective. I'd be much more interested in a biogrpahy of Millar, preferably written some time after he has retired.

 

[movingtarget]

Seriously whats with british riders? I cant think of any who hasnt got his head up his rear end.

Millar is a cheat. confesses when he is caught. he gets suspended. comes back in good form and denounces his own actions. --and suddenly-- he is a hero against doping.

and now he gets to denounce others and call for closure on other cases
(thanks millar, we really needed your permission). He writes a book that probably is gonna be a pommy bawww-fest about why he doped and how depressed he was after so that in years to come he will have changed his image from cheat to one of the good guys. load of bull.

if your gonna cheat. do the time and move on. sif be all anti doping massiah about it.

All too true. I might wait for the book to be remaindered which should not take long if he writes as well as he talks. Should be good for making paper planes.

 

[fmk_RoI]

FYI: http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/6/17/2228568/Racing-Through-The-Dark. Who was 'le Boss'?

 

[Captain_Cavman]

FYI: http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/6/17/2228568/Racing-Through-The-Dark. Who was 'le Boss'?

Ouch! There's a review that says, "don't read this book, it's full of ****."

Is the book well written, a page turner etc? Does it have enough big glossy pictures? I've read articles of Millar's that were inciteful and witty, is the book similar? Shouldn't a review mention such things?

The genius of Kimmage was that he made a book about a short and uneventful career into such a classic, while the Flying Scotsman for instance, wasn't.

Thus Kimmage attracted a lot of *****y comments from writers like Fotheringham and Rendell, presumably because this thick Mick who couldn't hack it on the pro circuit was shooting down the heroes of their books in a far more readable way than these established authors could portray them.

 

[Mambo95]

Is the book well written, a page turner etc? Does it have enough big glossy pictures? I've read articles of Millar's that were inciteful and witty, is the book similar?

In answer to your questions:

Yes, it is well written. Nicely paced and keeps the narritive flowing.

It has some glossy pictures. They are more arty than informative.

He's fairly inciteful, and there's some witty bits but not too many. There isn't too much in the way of 'big revelations' as much of it got covered in the Cofidis hearings.

Personally, I enjoyed it. While it obviously has some similarities to Kimmage's book, it's really quite different in tone. While Kimmage's book was an angry accusatory tale bogged down in self-pity and bleakly pessemistic, Millar's is a more matter of fact story of one man's journey through the post-Festina cycling world and ultimately generally optimistic. There's really little in the way of self-justification or a need to create villans (hence why Lelli is not actually named). It's just a document of what happened.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

Thank you for the answers.

.. It's just a document of what happened.

Do you get the feeling it is? Or is it just spin?

The good Lady Cavman recently read the Alastair Campbell autobiography and ever since has gone on about what a lovely, kind, sensitive man he is.

 

[Mambo95]

Do you get the feeling it is? Or is it just spin?

Yeah, generally. No memoire is going to be totally unbias. I'm sure there are plenty of things he knows that he omitted, but then they probably weren't relevant to his story. It's like a standard sporting autobiography, but with a more interesting storyline. It's certainly not a manifesto or an attempt at self-glorification (as I imagine Campbell's is). It's long on story and short on opinion (although he really doesn't like Wiggins), and all the better for that.

 

[Chuffy]

Yeah, generally. No memoire is going to be totally unbias. I'm sure there are plenty of things he knows that he omitted, but then they probably weren't relevant to his story. It's like a standard sporting autobiography, but with a more interesting storyline. It's certainly not a manifesto or an attempt at self-glorification (as I imagine Campbell's is). It's long on story and short on opinion (although he really doesn't like Wiggins), and all the better for that.

Interesting, any reason?

 

[Mambo95]

Interesting, any reason?

For the way he left Garmin (even though Millar had decided to go to Sky himself until that door slammed shut) and being a bit of a knob once he'd decided to leave (and messing up Garmin's lead-out on the Champs Elysees by going AWOL - that bit where Hincapie storms through for HTC - that's where Wiggins was meant to be)

 

[Chuffy]

For the way he left Garmin (even though Millar had decided to go to Sky himself until that door slammed shut) and being a bit of a knob once he'd decided to leave (and messing up Garmin's lead-out on the Champs Elysees by going AWOL - that bit where Hincapie storms through for HTC - that's where Wiggins was meant to be)

Oh, right. Nothing big then, just a few professional niggles.

 

[goggalor]

From the excellent podium cafe review, good to see Millar finally take some responsibility for his cheating:

"It was an eye-opening experience. It became clear that I still had a fairly adolescent mentality, relied heavily on father figures and had created behavioural patterns that were destructive and self-perpetuating. He made me understand that most of the decisions I'd made were unavoidable, considering the personality and upbringing I'd had. I then understood that my history, combined with the situations I had found myself in, gave a certain inevitability to everything that had happened."

Oh wait...

I don't understand why anyone would bother reading a book that's so full of half-truths. It just seems like a waste of time.

 

[B_Ugli]

For the way he left Garmin (even though Millar had decided to go to Sky himself until that door slammed shut) and being a bit of a knob once he'd decided to leave (and messing up Garmin's lead-out on the Champs Elysees by going AWOL - that bit where Hincapie storms through for HTC - that's where Wiggins was meant to be)

The other thing that probably gripes Millar is that Wiggo has been looked after through the early part of his career and been allowed to concentrate his focus on the track while successive French managers have given him free reign on his road programme. This is why he is enjoying some of the best years of his career in his early 30's and also why he can pick and chose what team he wants to ride for. Millar has cut his teeth on some hard European races over his early years as a pro and by his own admission spent much of that period totally exhausted as a result. Dont get me wrong Wiggo is a class act but along with the generation that will follow him has benefited massively from the protection that being on British Cycling gives a rider looking to progress.

I picked up the book at the weekend and I am 2/3 of the way through it. To be honest I dont really know what to make of DM. I know he has always been massively talented as mates that were older than me raced with him in Belgium a couple of times and told me how he strong he was. I dont think he needed the preparation to be successful but it seems a lack of training guidance combined with over zealous management at Cofidis eventually had its effect. When I say lack of training guidance I mean that every time he seemed to return to Biarritz he went partying to stave of lonliness and his form went through the floor. I dunno - a very complicated character.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

From the excellent podium cafe review, good to see Millar finally take some responsibility for his cheating:
Oh wait...

You are putting a rather unfair spin on that passage.

Millar uses the word "inevitable", which is often associated with shirking responsibility. However, it only implies that when the factors giving rise to an inevitable outcome are external to the person concerned. In this case the factors he lists prominently include his own "adolescent mentality", propensity to follow father figures blindly and self-perpetuated self-destructive behaviour.

What he is saying there is that someone who (a) had my immature personality and (b) my background and found themselves (c) in the situations I was in, would take the same decisions. He includes both his own flaws as a human being and the external context to explain his doping. This could be criticised for a sort of determinism, but it is not an attempt to simply palm off the responsibility on others.