British cyclist Mark Cavendish believes David Millar should be free to compete in next year's Olympics, insisting Friday that his compatriot has "redeemed himself" after serving a two-year ban for doping.
Millar, who tested positive for EPO in 2004, is barred from competing in the London Games because the British Olympic Association enforces a lifetime ban for doping offenders. "I would love him to be (at London 2012)," said Cavendish, who became world road-race champion in September thanks to the work of a Britain team captained by Millar.
"Dave cheated but he has realized what he did and learned a lot. He's a massive anti-doping campaigner." The World Anti-Doping Agency has declared the BOA "noncompliant" with global doping rules but the British body this month challenged the ruling, filing a formal appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport sport's highest court.
Britain, which is the only country enforcing lifetime Olympic bans for former drug cheats, wants a ruling well in advance of the games, which start on July 27. The BOA's regulation came under scrutiny after CAS threw out the IOC rule in October that bars athletes who have received drug bans of more than six months from competing in the next games.
Millar, who along with athlete Dwain Chambers is the highest-profile Briton covered by the BOA ban, has become an advocate for drug-free sport and sits on WADA's athletes panel. The 34-year-old Scot also remains a top-class cyclist. A regular in the world's major races, his experience was vital in the world championships in Copenhagen as he helped lay the foundations for Cavendish's dash for gold.
If it wasn't for his doping past, Millar would be an automatic selection in Britain's team for the Olympic road race on July 28. "If we want to win the Olympic road race, we need Dave," Cavendish added in an interview with the BBC. "If you want to win and make history, you need a group of people around you.
"As with Copenhagen, there couldn't have been anybody else I would rather have been with than those seven guys. It's the same with London. There are certain people I would want to share that with and Dave's one of them."