Scots cyclist makes British squad after Olympic ban is lifted

Olympic dream: David Millar has been selected for the British squad.© PA

Scots cyclist David Millar has been selected for the British squad after the Olympic ban against him was lifted.

The 35-year-old was banned from competing in the sport for two years in 2004 after admitting he took the blood-boosting agent EPO.

He also received a lifetime ban from the British Olympic Association but this final barrier was removed last month after the sports body was forced to drop this sanction for doping offenders.

He told the Daily Telegraph: "For eight years, I'd been through it all, bans, sanctions, being ostracised, legal problems and the only thing left to hang over me was my lifetime Olympic ban and I didn't realise how much I hated living with it until it was actually lifted.

"It was like taking off the final handcuff."

The cyclist, who grew up in Forres, Moray while is pilot father was stationed at nearby RAF Kinloss, has been chosen as the provisional eight-man squad for the men’s road race at London 2012 but has still to battle it out for one of the five places on the final team.

Fellow cyclist and countryman Sir Chris Hoy who is a four-time gold medallist has pledged to back Millar but has spoken out about his support for a lifetime ban from the Games in the past.

David said: "I understand completely his position. He's this paragon of perfection. You know, Sir Chris Hoy. He lives in a white world.

“Perhaps some of us live in a bit more of a grey world where we understand a bit more of what actually goes on.

"But we need people like Chris. Redgrave's another. Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Steve Redgrave: they're white knights."

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