HE may have envisaged saying his farewells on the hallowed cobbles of the Champs Elysees in Paris but instead David Millar has found solace in returning to his Scottish roots as he reaches the final stages of the lap of honour that will bring his 17-year professional cycling career to a close.
Millar is set to compete only a handful more times before he retires this autumn, the Commonwealth Games road race in Glasgow marking the last time he will do so wearing a saltire on his jersey.
Having been de-selected from the Tour de France by his professional team Garmin-Sharp over doubts about his fitness, the 37-year-old has spoken in recent days about how competing for Scotland at the Games has helped "put everything in perspective" and become much more important to him than "racing for a corporate team".
Millar's is a colourful and often tumultuous journey that has taken him from winning the prologue stage on his Tour de France debut in 2000 to being arrested four years later in Biarritz for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs, through the dark days of his doping ban and the redemption that followed when he won Commonwealth Games time-trial gold in Delhi in 2010.
He may have failed to defend that title on Thursday, finishing eighth as England's Alex Dowsett became the new Commonwealth Games champion, but Millar says he is relishing the prospect of competing in front of the tens of thousands lining the streets of Glasgow.
"This is a passion," he says. "Deep down this is going back to proper values. It's heart and soul in this one - but, thankfully, I can still use all my professional weaponry."
The 2013 British National Road Race Championships in the city last summer drew 30,000 spectators, but that figure is anticipated to be far exceeded when the Games action unfolds today. It is a backdrop which plays to the showman in Millar who admits he loves the big crowd atmosphere.
"When I was a kid at BMX test ramps I would only do it if people were around," he says. "There was no point risking it if no one was going to watch you crash. It's a bit like that still I think. In a time trial you are so zoned out, you are in your own space. It doesn't matter what crowds are there, if you are on a good day you will see and hear nothing.
"The road race is different. I've always loved it because I've tapped into the emotional side of things. There are so many variables. You have got to be totally outside your own space seeing everything that's going on. I thrive in that environment."
The 8.7-mile road race course in Glasgow is one that Millar knows well having competed on it at the British Championships when he finished third. Mark Cavendish won on that occasion but with the Manx rider out of the Games as he recovers from shoulder surgery following his crash on the opening day of the Tour de France, there is a raft of other names thrown into the medal equation.
"The Aussies as a whole have strength in depth," says Millar. "Jack Bauer from New Zealand, Geraint Thomas [of Wales], Pete Kennaugh [from the Isle of Man] is going to be flying I think. He raced the course last year and he knows it. There are a lot of good guys and real strength there."
While Millar will be team leader and captain on the road, another rider who will play a key role for the Scots, he says, is Andy Fenn, a team-mate of Cavendish at Omega Pharma-QuickStep.
"He's a much better sprinter than me, so he definitely is a great card to play," says Millar. "We'll have that up our sleeve and we'll be using it. It's a race you can't predict so you have to have A, B, C, D, E, F and G plans and see how it goes."
They will be backed up by Evan Oliphant and James McCallum, renowned in professional cycling for their staunch workhorse ethic, alongside upcoming youngsters Jack Pullar and Grant Ferguson, the Scottish mountain biker who was riding at Cathkin Braes last week.
"I think we have a really good team," says Millar. "I was speaking to Grant after he came fifth in the mountain bike race which was pretty amazing. He is all in for helping us. We will come up with a plan - I will come up with a plan - and I think we have the guys to execute it."
The course certainly isn't for the lily-livered with 12 laps in total covering 104 miles and featuring lots of sharp, punchy climbs that will sap the legs as the race progresses.
"It will be an anarchic race here because it has to be," says Millar. "The course is so complicated and there are no teams strong enough to control it. The race is going to go from the gun. I think you'll see the cream rising to the top pretty quickly, then it will turn into a war of attrition and then tactical towards the end. It's going to be really hard, that's for sure and demanding."
While he was born in Malta, his parents Gordon and Avril come from Glasgow and met at university in the city. Millar has talked fondly of visiting his grandmother at her Maryhill tenement flat when he was a child.
The rider plans to pay tribute to Glasgow School of Art by including the distinctive emblem of Charles Rennie Mackintosh on his bike, helmet and cycling shoes when he competes today.
Millar says he was inspired to make the gesture after hearing about the fire which ripped through the iconic building in May and has chosen an eye-catching purple design which encapsulates the essence of Rennie Mackintosh's work.
Competing in Glasgow has certainly proved a cathartic experience as Millar reflects on missing out on his final Tour de France.
"It brings you back down to earth and kind of reminds you of how lucky you are," he says. "For any pro athlete I would recommend 100% to come to the Commonwealth Games because it does remind you why you began and what you are doing it for, rather than turning into this bitter, cynical, pissed-off pro."
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