Richard Moore - In Search of Robert Millar - Unravelling the Mystery Surrounding Britain’s Most Successful Tour de France Cyclist

Richard Moore

HarperSport

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in hardback in 2007 by HarperSport an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Copyright © Richard Moore 2007

The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgments in any future editions .

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007235018

Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780007283880

Version: 2017-01-12

In loving memory of my mother, Katherine Moore

(1946–2005)

Title Page IN SEARCH OF ROBERT MILLAR Richard Moore

Copyright Copyright Copyright Dedication Prologue 1 It’s the Grit that Makes the Oyster 2 Mammy’s Boy 3 The Smaller They Are, the Harder They Fight 4 A Jungle 5 The Y Team 6 The Little Cockerel 7 The Shirt in the Shop 8 Cry No Tears 9 He Loves Being a Star 10 Domestique De Luxe 11 You Don’t Put Ordinary Fuel in a Sports Car 12 Life in the Fast Lane 13 A No-Pain Zone Epilogue Picture Section What next? Picture Credits Acknowledgments Index About the Publisher HarperSport An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in hardback in 2007 by HarperSport an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Copyright © Richard Moore 2007 The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgments in any future editions . All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication Source ISBN: 9780007235018 Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780007283880 Version: 2017-01-12

Dedication Dedication Dedication Prologue 1 It’s the Grit that Makes the Oyster 2 Mammy’s Boy 3 The Smaller They Are, the Harder They Fight 4 A Jungle 5 The Y Team 6 The Little Cockerel 7 The Shirt in the Shop 8 Cry No Tears 9 He Loves Being a Star 10 Domestique De Luxe 11 You Don’t Put Ordinary Fuel in a Sports Car 12 Life in the Fast Lane 13 A No-Pain Zone Epilogue Picture Section What next? Picture Credits Acknowledgments Index About the Publisher In loving memory of my mother, Katherine Moore (1946–2005)

Prologue

1 It’s the Grit that Makes the Oyster

2 Mammy’s Boy

3 The Smaller They Are, the Harder They Fight

4 A Jungle

5 The Y Team

6 The Little Cockerel

7 The Shirt in the Shop

8 Cry No Tears

9 He Loves Being a Star

10 Domestique De Luxe

11 You Don’t Put Ordinary Fuel in a Sports Car

12 Life in the Fast Lane

13 A No-Pain Zone

Epilogue

Picture Section

What next?

Picture Credits

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Publisher

‘… remaining unknowable is the only true way to be known …’

Colum McCann, from Dancer

I can remember, quite clearly, my first encounter with Robert Millar. It was at lunchtime on Saturday, 21 July 1984. I was 11 at the time. Robert Millar will remember the occasion more vividly, because while I was watching television with my dad in my family’s living room, he was in the Haute-Ariège area of the Pyrenees, climbing a steep, winding road that ended at the ski station at Guzet Neige – the finish of stage 11 of the Tour de France.

We had recently moved to England from Scotland, and my Scottishness was being pointed out to me repeatedly. A PE teacher nicknamed me ‘Jock’, and it stuck. I hated being singled out. On the other hand, I quite liked it too. But I was desperately, urgently looking for allies – namely, fellow Jocks – wherever I could, even on television, even participating in obscure sporting events. I looked at the TV screen but couldn’t really work out what was going on. There was a small group of sweating cyclists straining against a steep gradient and suffering in the blazing heat. So this was the Tour de France. It looked pretty boring.

I asked my dad, who was receiving his weekly fix of the Tour de France on ITV’s World of Sport , whether any Scottish cyclists were competing in this strange event. ‘There is one Scot,’ he replied, a note of surprise in his voice. ‘Robert Millar, from Glasgow. That’s him there.’