Millar: Pro cycling cleaner than it's ever been

[Alpe d'Huez]

Someone needs to brew a pot of coffee first...

Pretty sure David would much rather have tea.

 

[lwebb12]

Pretty sure David would much rather have tea.

The testers like them some coffee for sure!

 

[blackcat]

I do not know if Millar is still clean. He did win the Vuelta chrono when at Saunier. I would not believe Millar as far as I could throw him and his bike frame.

Why do British riders tend to throw their bikes. Big sooks.

 

[lwebb12]

I do not know if Millar is still clean. He did win the Vuelta chrono when at Saunier. I would not believe Millar as far as I could throw him and his bike frame.

Why do British riders tend to throw their bikes. Big sooks.

They are all jacked up, the rage is brought out.

 

[Race Radio]

Everyone changes. We are all not the person we were at 21. We grow, learn, and hopefully become better people....some become worse people.

David Millar in his early 20's was an A$$. He could be faking it but he appears to be a completely different person now.

 

[Runitout]

Couldn't help but notice his platinum-dyed hair at the podium, which for some reason was a trademark of all the heavy EPO users in the early 00s - VDB, Frigo, Virenque, etc. Was the dye a masking agent?

Funny you should say that - why did the Festina team dye their hair back in the day... or Mercatore Uno? Or Lotto in the Giro - when was it? 2001- on the rest day?

 

[Winterfold]

I do not know if Millar is still clean. He did win the Vuelta chrono when at Saunier. I would not believe Millar as far as I could throw him and his bike frame.

Why do British riders tend to throw their bikes. Big sooks.

If you were made to ride a Felt you would probably throw it in a ditch ;-)

If we are going to generalise I might also ask why when US riders are busted to do they deny it and cry like big girls and waste time in court rather than taking it on the chin. But generalisations arent that helpful on forums so I wont.

Millar also won the final TT in this year's Vuelta.

I never know which way to take him, I think he's clean but maybe he should zip it up a bit. He doesn't seem to be allowed to have a successful break but they just be me seeing conspiracies where there are none.

Eg this year's Dauphin, he went off with 6k to go, it was on race radio that it was a different Garmin rider and noone seemed bothered to chase. Then it came across that it was Millar and they took off after him. He wasnt a threat on GC.

 

[Psalmon]

This article just seems to much "this just in from the state-controlled media."

There must be room for redemption, but that doesn't mean the redeemed should be promoted. What's the incentive for playing it straight? This stuff is easy for him to say. Where's he taking any risk? How is he suffering for taking this "stand", stating this opinion?

Maybe his tone would be different were he not still in the peloton. If anything he shouldn't be on any committee until retired, there's too much conflict. Would he take the tone "there's still a lot of work to be done" and ride?

The sport deserves more from those redeemed, if anyone's to take them seriously.

 

[Polish]

Hyperbole

This article just seems to much "this just in from the state-controlled media."....The sport deserves more from those redeemed, if anyone's to take them seriously.

+1

Maybe DAVID is cleaner than he has ever been, but not sure if he is
in position to say the SPORT is cleaner than it has ever been.
What makes David such an authority of what things were like
back in Greg' day for instance.

Also, David is speaking as a spokesperson for WADA.
Patting themselves on the back.

 

[fatandfast]

Millar has learned that he may be an open book, and in his cycling past things may have been done and talked about out in the open. Today people are shutting the F up more than ever. Big salaries for big stars and spin off stuff for guys to make money from endorsements from tshirts,food and drink to websites and coaching. He may think he sees less juice because he does see less. Nobody will talk in front of him about anything. His everybody should come out stance is not a good fit for most pros with a current or past problem. Not everybody can make it back after 2 years off the bike. All the chasing of blood samples of the past will only hurt the sport. Amnesty for everybody and then if you are caught next Feb. you get a 5 or 6 year ban for your 1st pop. It will put all the Millars to bed once and for all. getting caught and making it back makes you lucky not anything else

 

[tubularglue]

I do doubt anyone knows if it is cleaner/dirtier than in the past.

Who would know ?

He has a stake in his team. Talk is cheap

 

[BroDeal]

I think that the quantity of doping may very well be less. It is the change in the quality that I doubt. Things like testosterone, which had to be a mainstay of recovery therapy, are now dangerous to use because the athlete never knows if a CIR test might be done without the initial T:TE screen. I am sure that some are still using it, especially during training, because it is cheap and easily obtained, but using it during the TdF would be putting your unit on the chopping block and hoping the axe does not fall. More tests and the closing of loopholes, like keeping the athlete in sight after notification of a test, has probably reduced the wild west free for all that existed a few years ago.

But just because the middling pros may now cutting back, it does not say much about the elite. If the bottom 90% are completely clean but the top 10% are as doped as they were in 2003 then the competition is just as phony as it used to be--perhaps more so because the playing field is so tilted.

Before I believe anything that Saint Millar is selling I want to see power levels go down and I want to see riders willing to turn on those who cheated them out of wins.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Curious what Millar thinks now in light of the latest Astana scandal.

If the bottom 90% are completely clean but the top 10% are as doped as they were in 2003...

A look at the finishing results from major races that year, especially the Tour, and how many riders have since been either tested positive, been sanctioned, implicated or at least attached to doping scandals, would indicate that number to be much, much higher. A typo? Perhaps your numbers were flipped, and you meant 90% doping in 2003? Many people consider it to be one of the dirtiest years in cycling history.

 

[BroDeal]

A look at the finishing results from major races that year, especially the Tour, and how many riders have since been either tested positive, been sanctioned, implicated or at least attached to doping scandals, would indicate that number to be much, much higher. A typo? Perhaps your numbers were flipped, and you meant 90% doping in 2003? Many people consider it to be one of the dirtiest years in cycling history.

Ack! I meant that if 90% of the riders today are clean but the top 10% that is winning most races is doped then the sport is just as phony as it was in 2003. Cycling would be no more legitimate than it used to be. It does not matter what the pack fodder is doing. We could very have a situation where the amount of doping is a fraction of what it used to be, but most riders who stand on the top spot of the podium are still doped.

 

[issoisso]

Couldn't help but notice his platinum-dyed hair at the podium, which for some reason was a trademark of all the heavy EPO users in the early 00s - VDB, Frigo, Virenque, etc. Was the dye a masking agent?

Actually, yes. Heavy EPO use tends to make your hair lighter for some people (not everyone, just some people). But it isn't uniform, it only causes "spots" of lighter hair. So it looks extremely weird and very noticeable. Which is like painting "I'm on EPO" on your forehead.

The obvious solution is to either shave it all off or dye all of it light to make it look like it's on purpouse.

 

[sars1981]

It's not unusual for people to be compromised by the institutions they work for. He's sees what he wants to see.

 

[Colonel]

Now, on the issue of cycling been cleaner than it's ever been. For the reasons stated previously i think he is right. What say you?

More chance of you falling pregnant and having the baby out your ***. No I dont believe in anyway atall cycling is any cleaner, the drugs are just better and the riders and Dr's have gotten much much better at it and beating the system. The drugs are so far ahead of the testers its simple math.

The riders are not just sticking a needle in their arm anymore they and their Dr's are doing it scientifically so they dont get caught, event training is now a science and the 2 go hand in hand.

UCI, ASO etc are also not letting all the positives be known to the public because of the bad rep cycling has and the chance of losing huge sponsors to the sport which will inturn make Pat lose alot of money and the little empire he has built up. It makes no sense business wise.

No positives at the Tour "my ****ing ***" I dont believe that for a second.

Rex, please WAKE UP.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I guess that means "no".

Ack! I meant...

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Bobby700c]

As Millar's singing Contador's praises, I won't be taking his word for it about the cleanliness of the peloton...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/the-pelotons-highlights-of-2009-part-three

 

[BroDeal]

As Millar's singing Contador's praises, I won't be taking his word for it about the cleanliness of the peloton...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/the-pelotons-highlights-of-2009-part-three

Word. The more Vaughters, Millar, and others from Garmin talk, the less I trust them. Although the way this trails off makes me wonder if he is implying something: "Biggest Surprise: Bradley Wiggins fourth at the Tour, we thought he was climbing quite well..."

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I don't mind that response regarding AC. I mean, he doesn't comment one way or the other there on doping, and just states that he held up well under tremendous mental pressure.

The second answer about Brad does leave room for reading between the lines though, doesn't it?

 

[craig1985]

Word. The more Vaughters, Millar, and others from Garmin talk, the less I trust them. Although the way this trails off makes me wonder if he is implying something: "Biggest Surprise: Bradley Wiggins fourth at the Tour, we thought he was climbing quite well..."

Yeah but did you have any trust in them in the first place?

 

[BroDeal]

Yeah but did you have any trust in them in the first place?

Actually, I did. I thought Vaughters was sincere, and I think Millar is likely racing clean now. Their comments over the last two years along with the performance of VDV and Wiggins have decreased my trust in Garmin to about that of the average team. Millar may not be doping, but I suspect some of his teammates.

 

[blackcat]

Actually, I did. I thought Vaughters was sincere, and I think Millar is likely racing clean now. Their comments over the last two years along with the performance of VDV and Wiggins have decreased my trust in Garmin to about that of the average team. Millar may not be doping, but I suspect some of his teammates.

I believed in them, til I was told I was a little naive by some insiders. 2010 blew their credibility unfortunately

 

[Bobby700c]

I don't mind that response regarding AC. I mean, he doesn't comment one way or the other there on doping, and just states that he held up well under tremendous mental pressure.

The second answer about Brad does leave room for reading between the lines though, doesn't it?

Well for someone who's supposedly trying to clean up the sport, and is a member of WADA's Athlete Committee, it seems a bit odd to give someone as dodgy as Contador his 'Performance of the Year' title. Or to be more accurate, it doesn't seem odd, it just exposes his anti-doping stance as BS in my opinion.

I don't personally read too much into the Wiggins comment - if he's willing to talk about what a hero Contador is, I can't imagine he would then go on to give Wiggins a slagging!