There are some cyclists who are not mentioned very often in the media, and then there are those who often end up in the media but who I still forget to mention. David Millar belongs to the latter group. I find him interesting, he has gone through a lot and has become a spokesperson against doping. He has confessed that he doped during some parts of his career. What I seem to have forgetten, though, is the fact that he actually rides his bike and does fairly well. It's not fair to (always) ask for his views concerning doping cases. He's also an accomplished cyclist.

Millar won the final time trial in the three days of De Panne twelve years ago. Now he is back. He finished seventh in the first stage of the stage; 13 seconds behind the stage winner, Steve Chainel.

"I hope we get through tomorrow well and then I want to win the GC," he said after the first stage.

David Millar was part of a breakaway most part of the day and he thought the group was slightly odd and the weather was quite boring. I know I dislike cross winds, and so does many cyclists.

"It was relentless. We went from kilometre zero and it was racing in the cross winds and we didn't stop once. It's very rare that we do that in bike racing. It was an extremely hard day," Millar said.

Today, De Panne is determined. The riders will race two stages during the day. A road race and finally a time trial. Millar can perhaps win the time trial, and if he's good enough then he can surely win the GC. There is a big chance though that someone else "steals" the victory from the Briton.