Robert Millar
Robert Millar
Scottish legend Robert Millar wrote his name into British Cycling record in an era when English-speaking riders were given little support from their rivals on the continent.
Fourth at the Tour de France, and the winner of the King of the Mountains jersey – the first time a Brit had claimed a classification at a Grand Tour – announced his potential.
Collusion among the Spanish-speaking riders cost Millar the 1985 Vuelta a Espana – he chased back on to the front group after suffering a puncture on the penultimate stage to catch his chief rivals for the general classification, which he was leading at the time.
Offering congratulations to the Scot and seemingly conceding defeat, the riders in the front group failed to inform Millar of an attack from sixth-placed Pedro Delgado, who had gone off the front on his home roads and wiped out his overall deficit to Millar.
Delgado won the Vuelta by 36 seconds, with Millar forced to settle for second – the same position he finished the following year.
In 1987 he was second to Stephen Roche at the Giro d’Italia, helping the Irishman to victory when Roche’s own team-mates disowned him – Millar also bagging the King of the Mountains jersey.
A stage winner at all three Grand Tours, Millar also went on to win the Criterium de Dauphine Libere in 1990 and the national road race title in 1995 before retiring.
Finest moment: Known for his refusal to suffer fools, Millar’s support for Stephen Roche at the 1987 Giro d’Italia – despite not being team-mates – helped the Irishman to the first part of what later became the Triple Crown and also saw Millar finish second overall and claim the King of the Mountains jersey. His stage win on the penultimate day, from a three-man breakaway including Roche, ensured he had won a stage of every Grand Tour.