David Millar Cut From Tour de France 2014 US Team

He's been plagued by a lingering chest problem, and for that, the Tour de France Garmin-Sharp squad has decided to pull the plug on David Millar on Monday.

His 14-year love affair with the tourney may have ended prematurely, The Guardian said, as the squad claimed the chest problem might not do him well in the future.

"I'm in shock. I don't understand why I'm not selected," he added. "The bottom line is that I was selected when they chose the team a week ago and they pulled me because they were worried about my health; that is counterintuitive because they wanted me to race the nationals to prove I was healthy." 

"I'm devastated that the team don't trust me to the job as I've always done," an upset Millar said in the report. The 37-year-old also said his relationship with the American team had been "killed," angrily denying that he was too ill to race, The Telegraph added. 

A tweet early on Monday was prescient, however, indicating that failing to finish the nationals was his doom. He said:  "None of my team will answer the phone to me. I under-performed at the nationals. I'm now so scared about losing my Tour spot I can't sleep."

He had come off a pullout on Thursday at the British time trial championship due to his cough, The Guardian reported. All better, the Garmin-Sharp squad had expected the 37-year-old Millar to perform at the national championship road race but, on Sunday, he pulled out at 42 kilometers to go.

"No matter what the situation I've always finished the Tour and done my job considerably better than others... In 2010 I got through with two broken ribs," he said but, missing the finish line, the athlete pedalled himself out of the Tour. 

"Selecting the final nine for our Tour is a very difficult task," said Garmin-Sharp's British directeur sportif Charly Wegelius, as quoted by The Telegraph. "Had David Millar been healthy, he would have been a phenomenal team member... Unfortunately, as seen over the weekend, David is sick, so we were forced to make a difficult and sad decision." 

"Not cool," Millar said, rejecting the interpretation of events. "For the record, I was going to be ready for the Tour," he tweeted. "So sad my team didn't believe in me, after everything we've been through." 

Millar's career in the tourney began in 2000 with a bang when he won the opening time trial at Futuroscope with a ride that shocked the cycling world, The Guardian said. He returned after his two-year doping suspension in July 2006, completing the race every year since then. 

He would retire from cycling at the end of the season and was all set to start the Tour in support of his leader Andrew Talansky. He is scheduled to end his career this September with the Vuelta a España and possibly the world road race championships.

"I was told I was in the team for my experience and for my expertise as road captain..." he said, but his performance ultimately killed his hopes of seeing action for the 13th time in his career. He said the decision "has killed my relationship with the team."