Juliet Macur of the New York Times wrote a wonderful story about the redemption of British cyclist David Millar, who has gotten his life back in order after serving a  two-year ban for doping.

Millar, 30, is now the team leader at Slipstream-Chipotle, the  American continental team that is at the forefront in the fight against doping in cycling.  Slipstream, the new face of American cycling with the disbanding of the Discovery Channel team, has a strict anti-doping policy and tests its cyclists on a weekly basis  to build a data base of each cyclists blood chemistry and detect abnormalities that might indicate the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The purpose is two fold:  to prove Slipstream  riders are  clean and  to  discourage them from falling into the temptations that derailed Millar.

After being busted in France for possession of doping products — syringes of EPO were found in his apartment —  Millar fessed up, gave up his  world time trial  title and pledged to turn around his life and lead the fight against doping.  He served his two year ban and resurfaced in 2006 with Saunier Duval-Prodir.

Now he’s with Slipstream at the forefront of anti-doping within cycling and determined to prevent others from following the destructive path that he once did.

 â€œI don’t want to race with monsters anymore,” Macur quoted  Millar as saying.  â€œI want to race with good guys who are trying to make a difference. I want to be that good guy.”

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