# David Millar
**David Millar** (born 1977) is a Scottish former professional road racing cyclist who rode between 1997 and 2014, won stages of all three Grand Tours, served a two-year doping ban in 2004, and then became one of the sport's leading voices against doping.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) • [2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977; British (Scottish)[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) |
| Professional career | 1997–2014, turning professional with the French team Cofidis[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html) |
| Doping ban | Admitted EPO use in June 2004; suspended and later banned for two years by the British Cycling Federation[3](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/jul/02/1) • [4](https://www.britishsportslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BASL-Vol-12-Issue-2.pdf) |
| Major results | 2nd World Time Trial Championships 2001 and 2010; Commonwealth Games ITT gold 2010; British national road race and ITT titles 2007[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) |
| Grand Tour stages | 4 stage wins at the Tour de France, 5 at the Vuelta a España, 1 individual stage win and a team time-trial win at the Giro d'Italia[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) • [14](https://www.skysports.com/olympics/news/7719558/david-millar-factfile) |
| Distinction | First Briton to lead all three Grand Tours[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html) |
| After racing | Brand director at Factor Bikes; CHPT3 clothing brand entered liquidation in December 2024[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) |
## Early life and start in racing
Millar was born on the island of Malta and grew up in Hong Kong. As a teenager he supported his nascent racing career by working nights at a supermarket and training during the day.[5](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2008/0721/millar-s-road-to-reformation) Determined to pursue cycling, he moved to France to race for the St-Quentin amateur team, where he won eight races, and in 1997 was offered a professional contract by five different teams.[6](https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/the-fall-and-rise-of-david-millar) He was one of the early recipients of funding from the Dave Rayner Fund, which sponsors up-and-coming riders.[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html)
He signed with Cofidis in 1997 and rode for the French team for seven years.[5](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2008/0721/millar-s-road-to-reformation) • [7](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/david-millar-career-pictures-136118) He rode his first [Tour de France](https://www.edgepedia.org/tour-de-france) in 2000, and in 2002 won a road stage to Béziers, a result he later described with pride because he was clean at the time.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/10/david-millar-cycling) He became one of the world's leading time trial specialists.[9](https://essay.utwente.nl/fileshare/file/69642/Spijkers_MA_BMS.pdf)
## The 2004 ban
At 8:25 pm on 23 June 2004, Millar was having dinner with [Team GB](https://www.edgepedia.org/team-gb) coach David Brailsford in a restaurant near Biarritz when he was approached by three suited men investigating the Cofidis doping affair.[6](https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/the-fall-and-rise-of-david-millar) On 1 July 2004 he admitted taking EPO and pulled out of the British Olympic team, following his suspension by the British Cycling Federation; he was summoned before Judge Richard Pallain, who oversaw the investigation into his team.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/jul/02/1) He was later banned for two years.[4](https://www.britishsportslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BASL-Vol-12-Issue-2.pdf)
Millar later said he had entered professional cycling "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, totally naive to the fact that doping existed."[5](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2008/0721/millar-s-road-to-reformation) The ban split his career in two.[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html)
## Return and later career
Millar rejoined the pro peloton in 2006 with Saunier Duval-Prodir, becoming an active campaigner against doping within the sport and building a name for himself as one of its most highly regarded road captains.[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html) He won a stage of the 2006 [Vuelta a España](https://www.edgepedia.org/vuelta-a-espana) and a national track championship in the individual pursuit that year, and in 2007 took the prologue of Paris-Nice plus both British national road race and time trial titles.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) From 2008 he rode for the Garmin team and its successors through his retirement.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/)
His post-ban record included a team time trial win at the 2008 [Giro d'Italia](https://www.edgepedia.org/giro-ditalia), where his chain broke in the final kilometer of a successful five-man break on stage 5, prompting his well-known bike toss; second overall at the Tour of California that year; a Vuelta stage win in 2009 after a long breakaway on stage 6 of the Tour earned him the combative jersey; and his sole individual Giro stage win, on stage 21 of the 2011 edition.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) • [14](https://www.skysports.com/olympics/news/7719558/david-millar-factfile) In 2010 he won the [Commonwealth Games](https://www.edgepedia.org/commonwealth-games) time trial, took bronze in its road race, and won silver in the World Time Trial Championships, adding a second world silver to the one he won in 2001.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) • [10](https://www.costabravaexcellence.com/davidmillar/)
In 2011 he took the maglia rosa as leader of the Giro d'Italia after stage 3, a success overshadowed by the death of Wouter Weylandt on the descent of the Passo del Bocco; Millar went on to win the Giro's final individual time trial and was part of Garmin-Cervélo's winning team time trial on stage 2 of the Tour de France.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) That year he also served as road captain for the Great Britain team when [Mark Cavendish](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-cavendish) won the world elite road race title in Copenhagen.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/10/david-millar-cycling) Across his career he became the first Briton to lead all three Grand Tours.[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html)
## Anti-doping advocacy and writing
After his return, Millar became a vocal spokesperson for reform in professional cycling and wrote *Racing Through The Dark* (Orion, 2011), an unflinching account of his early career and doping that is regarded as one of the defining accounts of life within cycling's doping culture.[6](https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/the-fall-and-rise-of-david-millar) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/10/david-millar-cycling) In 2016 he outlined "How to Get Away With Doping" in a New York Times essay examining therapeutic use exemption culture.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) In 2018 he announced he would run for president of the CPA, the professional riders' union, saying "The time has come to modernise and reform it."[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/)
## Retirement and post-racing life
Millar retired in 2014 at age 37, after 17 years as a professional.[2](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html) • [11](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/i-dont-know-if-ill-be-flying-or-dying-david-millar-to-race-unbound-gravel-alongside-elites) He founded the CHPT3 clothing brand, which entered creditors' voluntary liquidation and ceased trading in December 2024, and he then began a new role as brand director at [Factor Bikes](https://www.edgepedia.org/factor-bikes).[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) He has remained active in the sport as a broadcaster and commentator, including a Tour de France podcast with Ned Boulting after ITV4 lost the race's coverage, and he raced Unbound Gravel alongside elite riders, training largely indoors on Zwift.[1](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/) • [11](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/i-dont-know-if-ill-be-flying-or-dying-david-millar-to-race-unbound-gravel-alongside-elites) • [12](https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/teams-riders/where-are-they-now-chris-froomes-2013-tour-de-france-winning-team/) He has spoken publicly about the difficulty of retirement, saying it leaves riders "staggering into the real world spinning and disorientated."[13](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/pro-cycling-is-a-sort-of-un-education-you-learn-a-lot-about-a-weirdly-specific-activity-none-of-which-is-applicable-anywhere-else)
## References
1. [David Millar | Riders, Cyclingnews](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/david-millar/)
2. [David Millar interview: five things I learned as a pro cyclist, RoadCyclingUK](https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/david-millar-interview-five-things-i-learned-as-a-pro-cyclist.html)
3. [Millar admits taking drugs, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/jul/02/1)
4. [British Sports Law, Volume 12, Issue 2 (2004)](https://www.britishsportslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BASL-Vol-12-Issue-2.pdf)
5. [Millar tries to clean up cycling from inside the peloton, CSMonitor](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2008/0721/millar-s-road-to-reformation)
6. [The fall and rise of David Millar, Cyclist](https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/the-fall-and-rise-of-david-millar)
7. [David Millar: A career in pictures, Cycling Weekly](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/david-millar-career-pictures-136118)
8. [David Millar: 'The irony is, I no longer fit in. Cycling has become robotic', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/10/david-millar-cycling)
9. [The doping culture in professional cycling, University of Twente thesis](https://essay.utwente.nl/fileshare/file/69642/Spijkers_MA_BMS.pdf)
10. [David Millar, Costa Brava Excellence](https://www.costabravaexcellence.com/davidmillar/)
11. ['I don't know if I'll be flying or dying' - David Millar to race Unbound Gravel, Cycling Weekly](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/i-dont-know-if-ill-be-flying-or-dying-david-millar-to-race-unbound-gravel-alongside-elites)
12. [Where are they now? Chris Froome's 2013 Tour de France-winning team, Cyclingnews](https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/teams-riders/where-are-they-now-chris-froomes-2013-tour-de-france-winning-team/)
13. [Pro cycling is a sort of un-education, Cycling Weekly](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/pro-cycling-is-a-sort-of-un-education-you-learn-a-lot-about-a-weirdly-specific-activity-none-of-which-is-applicable-anywhere-else)
14. [David Millar Factfile](https://www.skysports.com/olympics/news/7719558/david-millar-factfile)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Cycling and motor sport › Road cycle racing › Road cycling teams and riders › Road cyclists by nationality and national representation*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license