Millar focused on Le Tour

Millar: Fit again after suffering broken collarbone

The way I see it, breaking my collarbone is a blessing in disguise. I missed some key racing, but it's allowed me to disconnect and focus my energies on the Tour de France

David Millar
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• Sky's GB cycling deal
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David Millar believes breaking his collarbone may have been a blessing in disguise, allowing him to "focus his energies" on the Tour de France.

The British cyclist was forced to change his schedule for this season after getting injured in the Paris-Nice 'race to the sun' in March.

The 32-year-old opted to enter the Giro d'Italia to regain fitness and, after withdrawing 15 stages in, went on to finish ninth in the Dauphine Libere.

Now Millar - who rides for the Garmin-Slipstream team - insists he's fully fit as he prepares to take part in Le Tour for an eighth time.

Focus

"I've a feeling I'm going to be 100 percent which is going to give me a real shot at it," he said.

"It (the Giro) was the last thing that I wanted to do at the beginning of the year but breaking my collarbone threw things up in the air.

"The way I see it, breaking my collarbone is a blessing in disguise. I missed some key racing, but it's allowed me to disconnect and focus my energies on the Tour de France.

"Now I'm back in control of everything and it's worked out well."

This year's tour starts out with Saturday's prologue in Monte Carlo - a stage Millar believes could see him record his first victory in the event since 2002.

"Definitely it's one of the bigger targets, but the Tour de France, you can't go all out on the first day, you've got to think of the other 24 days," he admitted.

Team Sky

Millar will be part of a line-up that will be looking to help Christian Vande Velde clinch overall glory this year after his fourth-placed finish in 2008.

The former British national road champion, who has worn all four Tour jerseys, is out of contract with his current employers at the end of the season and has been linked with a switch to Team Sky for next year.

"They're going to be an amazing team, one of the best in the world, and it would be silly to say no," he said about Team Sky, which will be established under the direction of British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford.

"But at the moment I'm contractually with my team and my heart is here for the immediate future."