David Millar has won an appeal against the lifetime ban that prevented him from taking part in the Commonwealth Games. The appeal, that was initiated by Scottish Cycling, was handed down by Scotland's games council for Millar's use of performance enhancing drugs. The council is expected to announce today that he will be eligible for selection in Delhi next year.
"I didn't think it was a possibility [to compete at the Games]," said Millar to the Scotsman. "I really thought the chance had gone, but I didn't realise I had such support in Scotland.
"I want to go and win the time trial," he continued. "The road race is more of a lottery, but the time trial is a realistic goal. I'll be riding the Vuelta next year purely for preparation for the Commonwealth Games – I've told my [Garmin- Transitions] team that the Vuelta is all about the Commonwealth Games for me, and they're very supportive."
Millar confessed to using the banned blood booster EPO in in 2004 while riding for the French Cofidis team. He served a two-year suspension and since his return to the sport he, along with his Garmin-Transitions team, has been outspoken in support of anti-doping efforts in the sport. His work in the fight against doping, that includes being elected to the World Anti-Doping Agency's athletes' panel, is what prompted Scottish Cycling to act.
"In 2002 my team [Cofidis] thought it was a Mickey Mouse event, and that put the kibosh on it. I had been brainwashed into thinking the European cycling calendar was all that mattered. But I'm older now and I appreciate the value of something like this," he added.
The one condition that exists for the ban to be overturned is that Millar must hold an anti-doping seminar for young Scottish athletes.