Cycling: Dope claims put Millar's Tour ambitions in doubt
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Your support makes all the difference.David Millar's 48-hour period in police custody which ended on Thursday evening has seen the Scot embroiled in reports of drug use which could threaten his participation in the Tour de France.
According to the French sports daily L'Equipe, Millar allegedly confessed to having taken illegal substances during his interrogation by French police in Biarritz, the coastal resort where the 27-year-old has his home base. Empty flasks of EPO, the illegal performance enhancing drug at the centre of many doping scandals since it first hit the headlines during the Festina affair of 1998, were said by the newspaper to have been found in Millar's home during a police search carried out shortly before he was questioned.
The Cofidis team leader, who was having dinner in a restaurant when he was taken into custody, allegedly recognised he had used the substances.
The Scot was being interrogated as a possible witness in an investigation which began last year and which has so far seen eight individuals - mostly former or current members of Cofidis - placed under formal investigation for infringement of French anti-doping laws.
Following his release, Millar himself was unavailable for comment yesterday, and according to his sister and agent Fran "he will not be making any statements until he has finished talking to his French lawyers". Millar is also due to meet with the judge responsible for carrying out the investigation, Richard Pallain on 1 July.
His team says that it will enforce "the appropriate penalties" should the allegations against Millar be confirmed and would apply the principle of "zero tolerance" towards illegal drug use. The 27-year-old is also due to meet his team management "to explain his declarations".
Quite apart from these series of meetings, Millar's chances of riding the Tour, cycling's blue riband event which starts next Saturday, appear to be diminishing. Clearly responding to the latest developments, the Tour organisation ASO issued a warning to teams on Friday that it would not accept anyone being investigated by police as part of their line-up for the race.
Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc added that he was convinced that the vast majority of riders taking part in the event would be "worthy of doing so". As regards Millar, should these declarations be confirmed, they would also constitute the equivalent of a positive dope test, something which during his eight-year professional career has never happened to the Scot.
The man at the centre of the scandal, however, has yet to make a declaration about the latest allegations, making it impossible to predict what direction events will finally take.
The reigning World Time-Trial Champion, Millar has taken three stages in the Tour de France and a few hours before he was questioned had made upbeat comments to The Independent about his chances of taking the Tour prologue in Liege, Belgium, on Saturday.
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