David Millar, the British former professional cyclist, founder of the recently-shuttered clothing brand CHPT3 and Tour de France commentator for ITV, has announced he is stepping into a new role as Brand Director at Factor Bikes.
The Scotsman, who has resided in Girona since his days as a pro, has been on the brand's payroll since October in a role as a Super Ambassador but is moving into a more permanent position following the closure of his clothing business and the news that the ITV has lost the rights to show the Tour de France.
In a recent interview with Cyclingnews, Millar explained how the CHPT3 brand met its end, and how work at Factor began as a simple olive branch from the Factor CEO, Rob Gitelis.
"It disappeared because it became about the P and L - mostly L," he began, referring to profit and loss reports and the closure of CHPT3.
"It got to the point where I just [thought I] can't do this any more. It sucked me dry. I'd invested so much, personally and financially, that it was just [at] breaking point.
"But to be honest I think it was almost a relief when I decided to pull the plug. I've been so lucky with the partners I have. They've been so kind and generous with me at a human level, understanding my mental health. They didn't let me feel like I'd let them down, [saying] 'look after yourself and do what's right for you'.
"That's what led on to Factor. Factor had [previously] given me a space in their office in Girona… When I told John in the office that I couldn't do it anymore, he told Rob, and then the next day, Rob said 'don't worry I'll hire you'.
"It's amazing. He didn't really know why he wanted to hire me, he just wanted to help me."
But Millar's connection to Gitelis and the Factor brand didn't begin there. He was introduced to the brand right at the brand's relaunch in 2016 by his friend and fellow former professional, Baden Cooke, one of Gitelis' original partners in the business.
And in an ironic twist of fate, Millar recently learned that his first ever race bike, a Fondriest he used while racing for Cofidis in 1997, was produced by a factory Gitelis owned.
ITV loses Tour de France TV rights
Not long after he decided to close CHPT3, the news broke that British terrestrial TV channel, ITV, was set to lose the rights to air the Tour de France from 2026.
Millar, who alongside Ned Boulting, had worked as a pundit and a co-commentator for the channel since 2015 on its Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage, explains that on hearing the news, he saw it as "another punch" while he was already down.
"I was properly shocked, to be honest with you. I think, foolishly, Ned and I thought we'd be doing it forever. That's just how it worked, [it had had] 40 years on air.
"But in the world of commentary, once you're with a broadcaster, you tend to stay with that broadcaster. Commentators don't flit between broadcasters. So it's not as though I could go and find another job. It's the end of an era.
"There was shock, but I had the CHPT3 thing happening at the same time, so [in my mind] it was a bit like chaos theory. I was pretty down, so I was like, just take another punch.
"It was melancholic, because we had so much fun doing it, and it was so experiential. It was such a privilege to do those races, especially the Tour de France, with that production. It's something I grew up with, and we know how many people it touches from outside our world. The ITV show is much bigger than cycling."
Millar's new role: Business Director at Factor Bikes
At first, Millar saw his role at Factor as a stepping stone. He explains how it offered him financial security, and he thought he'd eventually find some other work to go alongside it. But in his own words, "it escalated."
"Suddenly I realised this was a door that was opening.
"I was able to then ratify in my head that, actually, CHPT3 served a purpose. It was almost as if it had been my eight years of education that I didn't truly recognize until I worked at Factor. And then it's like 'oh wow, I've accumulated so much knowledge.' It served a purpose. It was my business school. My very expensive MBA."
He explains that he was blown away by his new colleagues' level of expertise and that the brand often has two or three projects on the go at different stages of development at any given time.
"Rob and I have very complimentary skill sets. I love storytelling. I'm into, for want of a better term, the fluffy stuff, while Rob's a hardcore engineer. It's almost binary how he sees things. There are things that he does that I will never comprehend, and things I do he doesn't comprehend.
"I learned at CHPT3 that in any business, you've got a company, which is the people, and then you've got a brand, which is how you're perceived.
"So much of what we do in apparel is a bit smoke and mirrors, because the product itself isn't actually what's delivering experience. It's the bike that delivers that experience. It's not groundbreaking, It's very hard to be groundbreaking in apparel.
"But I speak with the engineers at Factor and they're spending thousands of hours designing bikes. The advancements they make are truly innovative, pushing the boundary of what's possible, and ultimately, the bikes are what's delivering this experience."
With Gitelis' focus leaning heavily toward the engineering side of the business, Millar says his role as Brand Director will focus on telling the brand's stories: the company values, its work with Israel Premier Tech, Human Powered Health, Team Amani, and its partnerships with various gravel privateers such as Matt Holmes and Lauren de Crescenzo.
He also hinted at an exciting new aero bike they're working on, but understandably couldn't say any more.
