Cyclopedia (32 page)

Born:
Glasgow, Scotland, September 13, 1958

 

Major wins:
Three stages Tour de France; King of the Mountains Tour de France 1984; Giro d'Italia 1987; British national road titles 1978–9 (amateur), 1995 (pro); Dauphiné Libéré stage race 1990

 

Further reading/viewing:
In Search of Robert Millar
, Richard Moore, HarperCollins UK, 2008; documentary on DVD:
The High Life

 

The Glaswegian is Britain's best ever TOUR DE FRANCE cyclist, one of cycling's greatest climbers, and one of the sport's great eccentrics. During the 1992 “Euro-Tour,” where the race numbers bore the 12 stars of the European Union, Millar spent several minutes each morning scraping the stars off and carefully inscribing a Scottish saltire instead. He has an acerbic, rather black sense of humor, is a fine writer, coined various NICKNAMES for his contemporaries, and featured in a fine television documentary,
The High Life
, with soundtrack by Steve Winwood.

A double British national amateur champion, Millar was one of the FOREIGN LEGION who turned professional, which he did in 1980 with the PEUGEOT team. Initially overlooked by the management, he became the first Briton to win a major mountain stage of the Tour, at Luchon in 1983, and added a second stage and the King of the Mountains jersey in 1984. His fourth place overall remains a British record, equaled in 2009 by BRADLEY WIGGINS.

In 1985 he would have won the VUELTA A ESPAÑA if the home teams had not ganged up on him on the penultimate stage to ensure victory for one of their own, Pedro Delgado, who made a long-range attack on the Scot to overturn a deficit of more than seven minutes. Later, Millar's manager Roland Berland claimed that he had an agreement with the Panasonic team that they would help Millar during the stage if his teammates weren't up to the task; instead, they went back on the deal. Afterward, Delgado thanked the managers of the Spanish teams “for sacrificing their chances for me.” Later, in February 1997, Millar analyzed
the defeat in
Cycle Sport
magazine, and made the following comments. He was not informed of who was in front or what the time gap was. His Peugeot team did not have the legs to help him defend the jersey. Berland did not manage to make any deals with other teams to make up for their weakness. His conclusion was “Delgado didn't win, I lost, mainly thanks to some circumstances that shouldn't have happened.”

At the time, it seemed likely Millar would go on to win a major Tour, but it did not happen: Millar added a stage win and second overall in the 1987 Giro, where he took the King of the Mountains prize; he took a third Tour stage in 1989 and won the Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1990. A few days after he won the British national championship in 1995, his career ended abruptly when his sponsor went bust.

Millar wrote a column for the British magazine
Cycle Sport
for several years, and later wrote bike tests for
procycling
magazine. His best piece was a feature called “THE KNOWLEDGE,” which detailed the dos and don'ts of professional cycling. After retirement he managed the British national road team for a year, then slipped off the radar. He emerged from obscurity in 2009 to write about the 1984 Tour for
Rouleur
magazine, offered Eurosport insights on the mountains of the Tour de France and gave the
Observer
newspaper his thoughts on Wiggins.

His younger namesake David, who won the prologue of the Tour in 2000 and a further stage in 2002, is no relation.

MONUMENTS
The five greatest one-day events in the sport are often referred to as the “monuments”: Milan–San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Tour of Lombardy. See their individual entries.

(b. England, 1849, d. 1935)

 

Winner of the first road race held from city to city, Paris–Rouen, in October 1869. Moore was a vet from Bury St. Edmunds with a practice in Paris when he won what is said to be the first bike race, held over 1,200 m at Paris's Parc St. Cloud on May 31, 1868, with 10 starters. He covered the distance in 3 minutes 50 seconds; the spectators included members of the Parisian aristocracy, according to reports of the time. There were almost certainly races before this but the Parc St. Cloud event was the first for which records exist. According to the historian Benjo Maso, Moore won the second of two events; the French writer Pierre Chany mentions only one “trial of speed” in his history of cycling, however.

Moore had contacts with the Michaux family, who owned a factory where HOBBY HORSES were made. Not surprisingly, he rode one for Paris–Rouen, although it was one of the few bikes at the time fitted with a revolutionary new invention: ball bearings in the wheels. His time for the 123 km was 10 hours 40 minutes. Amusingly, an initial report in the organizing magazine gave his nationality as “French although his name is English” but Moore wrote in to correct the error.

In 1874 Moore won the McGregor Cup over one mile at Wolverhampton, which unofficially made him world champion. He also served in the French ambulance corps in the Franco-Prussian war and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur.

MOSER, Francesco
(b. Italy, 1951)

“Il Cecco” is the only cyclist to have won PARIS–ROUBAIX three times in a row, but he is better known for bringing cycling into a new era by breaking EDDY MERCKX's HOUR RECORD in Mexico City on January 19, 1984, then improving his distance
four days later. Moser was 32 years old and had looked a spent force, but thanks to sponsorship from the sports drinks company Enervit he assembled a team of 50 technicians to look at every area from AERODYNAMICS to diet and training. They included MICHELE FERRARI, who went on to a controversial career that included helping LANCE ARMSTRONG win seven Tours de France.

The buildup lasted three months; Moser earned £96,000 for breaking the record. Although the record was subsequently discredited when Moser confessed that he had used blood doping—not a practice banned at the time, but one forbidden in later years—it led to huge interest in aerodynamics. Moser used disc wheels, skinsuits, low-profile frame, lycra skinhat and shoe covers, and cow-horn handlebars, all of which became popular. He also gauged his training with a pulse monitor and trained specially with what amounted to weight training on his bike, riding for long periods up moderately steep climbs using high gears.

Aerodynamics, energy drinks, and scientific monitoring are ubiquitous in cycling today, thanks partly to the emphatic way in which Moser broke a record that had been assumed to be unbeatable. Following the record, Moser appeared rejuvenated and won MILAN–SAN REMO, then took a controversial win in the GIRO D'ITALIA where it was alleged that the organizers had worked behind the scenes to ensure a home winner.

As well as his record in Paris–Roubaix—which he finished 12 times between 1974 and 1986, never coming home lower than 13th—Moser was also involved in one of Italian cycling's greatest RIVALRIES, with the 1982 world champion Giuseppe Saronni. He later retired to start a bike company, came briefly out of retirement in 1995 to attempt an hour record using the tuck position invented by GRAEME OBREE, and ran a vineyard in his native Trento.

 

MOTORPACING
Racing on the track behind full-size adapted motorbikes, known as the “big motors,” is rarely seen nowadays, but was popular through the golden era of track racing, reaching a peak in the 1920s with what French historian Pierre Chany termed “the speed frenzy,” when motorpace specialists would vie to become the fastest man in the world. The speeds reached were terrifying. A season-long duel in 1925 between the Belgian Leon Vanderstuyft and the Frenchman Jean Brunier, one attempt after the other, culminated with Brunier getting past 75 mph (120 kph).

They used specially adapted “stayer” bikes, with small front wheels and straight forks to enable them to get closer to the motorbike—on which the rider stood at the very rear, bolt upright (with long handlebars) to give the maximum amount of shelter. A second seat-post might be fitted between the nose of the saddle and the top tube to counter G-forces pushing the rider downward and distorting the saddle. A roller attached to the back of the motorbike meant that if the cyclist's front wheel made contact, he would stay upright. These were hugely dangerous events: in one attempt, Vanderstuyft wore seven jerseys for protection if he happened to fall.

Motorpaced was the first event on the track world-championship program in 1895, and the machines and bikes used today look like throwbacks to the 1920s; spectacular as the discipline is, it is only feasible on larger, often open-air tracks, and there was constant speculation about deals being done between the small group of drivers at the Worlds. It was removed from the championship after the 1994 Worlds in Palermo, Sicily. The last world motorpaced champion was Carsten Podlesch of Germany.

Smaller motorbikes with pedal assistance known as DERNYS are used in some track events. Some SIX-DAY RACES and track meets include Derny-paced races, and a
single Derny makes the pace for the initial laps in KEIRIN races outside Japan. They are also used by track racers for training, although the Great Britain team tends to use a full-size motorbike to get greater speed.

The Bordeaux–Paris “Derby of the road” was the only CLASSIC to keep up the tradition of both motor- and cycle-pacing. It had cycle-pacing until 1930, after which the riders were paced either by commercially available motorbikes or Dernys for all or part of the distance until the race's demise in 1988. The record for the event's 580-odd kilometers was just under 30 mph (47.610 kph set by Andre Chalmel in 1979).

(b. England, 1920)

 

Designer who was the first man to make a fundamental change to cycle design since the invention of the SAFETY BICYCLE, when he launched a small-wheeled machine with full suspension in 1962. From a swinging '60s novelty to go with miniskirts and beehive hairdos, the Moulton cycle is now a design classic, although it has never ousted the large-wheeled cycle. That's because for road use conventional 27-inch or 700C wheels with pneumatic tires offer sufficient comfort and durability to make suspension an unnecessary complication.

Moulton worked initially in airplane engineering, then on car suspensions using rubber, and is best known for developing and producing the system used in another iconic 1960s design, the Mini. He took six years to produce his bike, which had a frame shaped like an F lying on its side. The critical factor was the rubber-based suspension, a version of that used on the Mini, enabling the small wheels to be
used with high pressure tires so there was no compromise in ride or performance. A principal base tube connected the top of the front fork and the rear drop-out, while two extensions held the saddle and the handlebars.

To convince a sceptical, conservative market that this was a serious machine, Moulton and his marketing manager David Duffield went into sponsorship. A month after its launch, top British time triallist John Woodburn broke the Cardiff–London record on one of the bikes; a team pursuit team proved successful on them—because the small wheels enabled the team to keep closer together, reducing drag—and TOM SIMPSON became a fan when he rode one at the Herne Hill track. With help from the British Motoring Corporation, Moulton rapidly became Britain's second-largest cycle maker behind RALEIGH, selling 1,000 bikes a week by 1965. Other companies produced small-wheel bikes but never really caught up.

Initially Moulton worked with Raleigh to produce bikes aimed at the mass market; the marriage was an unhappy one and subsequently Sir Alex focused on high-quality, hand-built bikes. In 1983 the AM (Alex Moulton) 7 bike was launched, with the “space frame” made up of a lattice of small diameter tubes. A Moulton fitted with a fairing to improve AERODYNAMICS was ridden at 51 mph over 200 m, a world record.

Today, the latest Moultons incorporate suspension with rubber springs and adjustable fluid damping and offer two key features: because they are shallow in height they can be used by cyclists of all sizes, and they can be “separated”—divided into several bits—making them easy to fit in a car trunk or a suitcase. The top-of-the-range models are made in Reynolds 531 (see FRAMES—MATERIALS), with adjustable bars, stem, and brake levers. Moulton APBs (all purpose bicycles) are made under licence by bicycle and tricycle makers Pashley in Stratford-on-Avon, while Moultons are also made in Japan.

Moultons have gained a passionate worldwide following, many of whom are members of the Moulton Bicycle Club and visit the annual Moulton weekend at the company's headquarters in Bradford-on-Avon. They have been used for long-distance touring rides—their strong small wheels and low center of gravity make them well-adapted for carrying luggage—although they are best loved by commuters.

 

(SEE
WHEELS
)

MOUNTAIN-BIKING
Sprang up in the US in the late 1970s from various antiestablishment off-road rides, most notably the DOWNHILL races held on the REPACK trail in California. Of the Repack crew, Charlie Kelly started the magazine
Fat Tire Flyer
, Mike Sinyard produced the groundbreaking Specialized Stumpjumper, and frame-builders Joe Breeze and Tom Ritchey and GARY FISHER all became key figures in mountain-bike mythology.

“Gary was the mechanic, the inventor, and a test rider . . . Charlie was also a test rider, constantly suggesting improvements, tracking down components, then using them until they broke. He was also the chronicler,” wrote Richard Grant in his introduction to the 1988
Richard's Mountain-bike Book
.

Repack was just one of several underground off-road rides in the US at the time. Another was the annual trek from Crested Butte to Aspen over Pearl Pass using an old mining road, while the first recorded cross-country race was held in Marin County in 1977. Many of the bikes used were “clunkers,” based on the 1930s cruiser machines made by SCHWINN, scavenged from bike-shop scrap heaps and customized with motorbike brake levers, bar-mounted shift levers, fat
tires, and primitive hub brakes. The term “mountain bike” was first used for a company set up by Kelly and Fisher in 1979 to market the machines.

Breeze built an early run of 10 replica “clunkers” for Kelly—with cantilever brakes and Magura motorbike brake levers—but Ritchey made the first ones to enter the market, at $1,300 each, and began using the 26-inch wheels that are now standard. In 1980 Sinyard bought some Ritchey bikes and used them as the basis for the Stumpjumper, which hit the market in 1981. A year later SHIMANO and SunTour brought out mountain-bike groupsets and by 1984, US mountain-bike sales had hit a million.

The first umbrella body, National Off-Road Bicycle Association, was founded in Kelly's house in 1983 and set the early pace for developing off-road racing. At the same time, off-road tourists such as Nicholas Crane (later to present the BBC series
Coast
) pushed the boundaries and helped boost the profile of the new bikes by taking the machines to places like Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, and the Yukon. Australians Tim Gartside and Peter Murphy crossed the Sahara in 1983.

The general public might not have wanted to ride in those places, but they liked having machines that looked as if they could. Cycling off-road was not new but the notion that doing it made you part of a movement was a novelty, and it was jumped upon rapidly by well-marketed companies such as Muddy Fox, who pushed their product hard in the British market.

In 1987 there were two world championships run by rival governing bodies, one in the Alps at Villard de Lans, one in the US at Mammoth, California. The UCI sanctioned mountain-biking in 1990 and the first official WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS took place at Durango, with Ned Overend and Juli Furtado of the US winning the cross-country events. The first UCI-sanctioned World Cup series, sponsored by Grundig, was run in 1991.

In the early 1990s, the Americans who had founded the sport began to be matched by European cyclists such as Henrik Djernis of Denmark and Thomas Frischknecht of Switzerland who had transferred from CYCLO-CROSS. Early British stars were also 'cross riders such as David Baker and Tim Gould, who formed a strong partnership for PEUGEOT.

During the 1990s stage races became popular, with the TOUR DE FRANCE organizers experimenting with a mountain-bike Tour in which the riders and caravan slept out in tents. France's Fred Moncassin became the only man to win stages in the mountain-bike and road Tours. A VUELTA A ESPAÑA was also run, and a Tour of Switzerland. In Australia, the Crocodile Trophy was born, with 17 stages averaging 150 km in length. In 1996, cross-country was accepted into the OLYMPIC GAMES with Paola Pezzo and Bart Brentjens the first champions. The blond-haired Pezzo, heavily marketed by Cannondale, gave the sport a glamour side.

By then, mountain-bike
sales had outstripped road-bike sales in the US and UK and the arrival of the fat-tire bikes had led to a complete change in the cycling marketplace, introducing vast numbers of new people to bike riding. It also radically restructured the market, bringing technical innovation in its wake that eventually transferred into road racing. Helmets were quickly made compulsory in mountain-biking and were improved rapidly as a result, making them acceptable to road racers.

There was almost constant technical development as Shimano and SunTour experimented with componentry and conditioned the market to expect annual upgrades. All the while manufacturers vied to produce the sexiest suspension bikes. Oversize aluminium became popular thanks to makers like Klein and Cannondale, while suspension came in from the early 1990s. The 1990 men's world championship was won using front suspension, and Rockshox's provision of forks to GREG LEMOND and company in PARIS–ROUBAIX from 1991 onward created a useful buzz.

Mountain-biking spawned a number of off-shoots to go with the original cross-country and downhill. Enduros are run along the same lines as CYCLOSPORTIVES, which actually drew on early mountain-bike cross-country races for inspiration. Mountain-bike orienteering has a hard-core following while trials contests are centerd on the central notion of mountain-biking—that you have to get over, around, up and down obstacles you wouldn't dare tackle on a road bike.

 

(SEE
CYCLO-CROSS
AND
ROUGH STUFF
FOR OTHER WAYS OF CYCLING OFF-ROAD)