"I decided that if I was going to be Commonwealth champion, I needed to do this full-time": Philippa York on the ambition that led her to the top

Philippa York has long been one of British cycling’s most influential figures. She raced professionally from 1980 to 1995 under the name Robert Millar and became Britain’s most successful professional rider of the 1980s, before later transitioning and building a second career as one of cycling’s most respected journalists. As a pro rider, she got 17 victories, and three of them were Tour de France stages.

York’s path into the sport began as a teenager in central Glasgow. “I thought, ‘this looks interesting… got to be better than the life mapped out for me, working in a factory’,” she recalled in an interview to Cycling Weekly. "My only way of seeing something different was to ride a bike. I got sucked into thinking I could try racing.”

Her first competitive experience offered little indication of what was to come. “I enjoyed the speed and the danger and the excitement,” York said. “I thought, this is quite good; I could see myself doing this. I often tell the story of how I came last in my first race and I was first in my last race, [the 1995 National Championships]. In between, things happened.”

Those things included a steady and self-driven rise through the domestic ranks while working full-time as an engineering apprentice. “It wasn’t a question of, ‘I want to be a pro rider’, it was ‘I’m going to be a pro rider’,” York explained. “I figured out that all I had to do was progress a couple of percent every year.”

The turning point came ahead of the 1978 Commonwealth Games. “I decided that if I was going to be Commonwealth champion – because I saw no reason why I wouldn’t be – I needed to do this full-time. So I packed in work with six months to go on my apprenticeship, much to the horror of my parents.”

After domestic success, York moved to France, riding for ACBB before turning professional with Peugeot-Michelin in 1980. But going abroad is never easy. “I wasn’t happy with getting a pasting in most races,” she admitted. "It's a bit of a shock to the system the way that races were run then. You would set off quite slowly, and then the last hour the race would kick into action. You'd go from 30kph to 60kph in about two minutes. And that would never stop. I found that quite difficult."

And persistence paid off. In 1983, York won her first Tour de France stage, followed in 1984 by fourth overall and victory in the mountains classification. “I’ve had to work at it. Climbing is my natural talent, but when you step into the pro world, everybody has natural talent.”

Further highlights included podium finishes in the Vuelta a España, a Giro d’Italia KOM jersey, and the overall victory at the 1985 Volta a Catalunya. That win carried special significance because of who her main rival was. “Sean Kelly was number one, and had been for a couple of years. So, it wasn’t a given. I needed a result like that to reinforce that I wasn’t there just by chance or through others’ bad luck.”

During her racing years, York was known for her complicated relationship with the media. “He's been scared of me because I had a wall up and didn’t want him to waste any of my time,” she said, recalling early interactions with journalist David Walsh, with whom she has written a book called the Escape. "If he came to me with a question about Sean Kelly, as I think he did once or twice, it would really annoy me. Don't ask me how they feel, because I don't know. Just piss off and leave me alone."