Millar's Sydney aim

David Millar, the young Briton who won the opening time-trial stage of the Tour de France, is confident he has a strong chance of taking a medal in the Sydney Olympics time-trial.

"It's quite realistic," he said during yesterday's rest day. "If I train hard and keep my motivation up, looking at the strength I have gained this year and I should get if I finish this Tour, I should not be far off a medal. The course is perfect for me."

Today, as the Tour sets off for another great skiing centre, Morzine, via four Alpine passes, the thoughts of the survivors will turn towards Paris, only five days' racing away.

Some cyclists are overawed by their first experience of the world's greatest cycle race but that has not been a problem for Millar, although he was overcome by the emotion of winning his first yellow jersey in the opening stage 17 days ago.

Few in their first Tour would dare to voice criticism of the way the race is organised, but his attack on the lack of forethought that led to gridlock in the little town of Briancon on Saturday earned him and his team a formal public apology.

Millar has left his mark on the Tour and it has left its mark on him. The livid scar on his neck, the legacy of last Thursday's crash which almost put him out of the race, is almost healed, but he cannot put much weight on his right arm without damaging the collarbone which he dislocated in the pile-up. Breathing is still painful.

He has learned that, in a three-week race such as this, disaster can strike at any moment. "It was a big wake-up call, as until then everything had been coming a bit easy."

It works the other way as well: Millar's Italian team-mate Massimiliano Lelli was close to quitting on Friday but on Sunday he was prominent in one of the toughest mountain stages.

The Scot is adamant that the overall classification of the Tour is not a priority in the short term, but he is showing signs of the ability to sustain a three-week effort that marks out a Tour man.

He has gained weight slightly since the start; usually it is the other way round. In the weekend's mountain stages he never felt tested, and he spent part of Sunday's huge climb of the Col de la Madeleine pushing a rival-cum-friend, the outsize Swede Magnus Backstedt.

However, Millar is not going to be tempted into a full assault on the Tour in the short term; next year, week-long events such as March's Paris-Nice "race to the sun" will be his priority. "I won't think of going for the general classification in the Tour next year. I'll ride through, and maybe select a couple of mountain stages which I'll put everything into so I can test myself."