The name of Dave Millar evokes happy memories for the Maltese cycling fraternity. The Scottish rider handed Malta its first and only cycling gold medal in the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) when he won the time-trial event at the 2001 GSSE in San Marino.

This week, the Garmin-Transitions rider spent a few days in Malta as a special guest of the Malta Cycling Federation for this year's Tour ta' Malta. Millar, who was born in Malta, signalled the official start of yesterday's opening stage, a time-trial along the Salina coast road.

Almost nine years have passed since his success in San Marino and Millar has fond memories of his first, and so far only, appearance in Maltese colours in GSSE competition.

But that could well change next year after Millar told The Times that he has informed the Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) of his availability to ride for Team Malta in the 2011 GSSE in Liechtenstein.

"I have great memories of the 2001 GSSE in San Marino," the 33-year-old rider said yesterday.

"When I travelled to San Marino, I was at the top of my professional career and when I joined the Malta contingent I didn't know any of the other riders in the team. However, they made me feel part of the team straightaway and I really enjoyed competing for Malta.

"I knew there were a lot of expectations resting on my shoulders but I only understood the significance of my gold medal after the race as the cycling federation officials and the other members of the contingent were absolutely thrilled to have finally claimed gold in cycling.

"I hope I can repeat that experience next year," Millar continued.

"This week I spoke to Mark Cutajar (the MOC Director of Sport) and informed him that I'm ready to represent Malta in Liechtenstein next year. Malta holds a special place in my heart and I'm willing to bring more success to the country where I was born."

Millar has experienced many ups and downs in his 13-year professional career. He came to prominence in 2000 when winning the Tour de France prologue, a 16 km time-trial at Futuroscope, and became only one of four British riders to wear the coveted yellow jersey.

He still holds the record of being the only Briton to have worn all four jerseys in the world's most prestigious stage race.

Doping drive

In all, Millar has won three stages of the Tour de France and five of La Vuelta. He was Britain's national champion in both time-trial and road race in 2007 and was the individual national pursuit champion in 2006.

However, his career hit a low in 2004 when he was handed a two-year ban after he admitted taking the banned blood-boosting hormone EPO (erythropoietin) on three occasions. After he served his suspension, Millar vowed to make up for his mistakes and started a campaign to educate riders on doping.

"Using banned substances was the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life," Millar said.

"After completing my suspension, I felt a responsibility to help others not to commit the same mistakes I did. I teamed up with Garmin-Transitions who have a strong stance against doping and then I joined the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) athletes committee and started a campaign against the use of banned substances.

"Cycling's image has suffered a lot of damage in recent years but I believe that today we have the means to catch the riders who cheat. The number of cyclists who are using doping has decreased considerably but it will take a lot of time before cycling can regain its status as a clean sport."

Cycling in Britain has experienced a huge rise in popularity in recent years following the great success of the British team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where they won 12 medals, including seven gold.

Millar believes that the recent success in Beijing has given British cycling a huge boost.

"Cycling has become very popular in Britain and the authorities are making a huge financial investment to ensure that the upward trend continues," Millar said.

"The main objective is to make sure that Britain arrives for the 2012 London Olympics with a very strong team and I feel that with the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in the team, there is enough talent to repeat the Beijing result in 2012."

After his short stay in Malta, Millar yesterday headed to Italy to take part in this weekend's Milan-Sanremo classic race.

Asked about his main objectives for this season, Millar replied: "My main objective this year is to be among the medal contenders for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

"My preparation for the season has been very good and the next few weeks will be very important for me as I will be involved in some big races like the Tour of Flanders and the Paris-Roubaix.

"However, the most important thing for me is to keep enjoying cycling and help youngsters to grow in the sport in a clean manner."

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