The 5 favorite places in Plan de l’Estany by David Millar, ex-professional cyclist
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Deaf (Cornellà del Terri, Pla de l’Estany)David Millar (Mtarfa, Malta, 1977) is a Scottish ex-professional cyclist turned businessman with the clothing and accessories firm CHPT3, of which he is the owner. She is in charge of shaping what she has called the third chapter of her life after a period marked by doping and another period of redemption within cycling with the Garmin-Sharp team. A chapter that has been passing through Girona for 16 years, more specifically through Pla de l’Estany. “I am the oldest and the last of the originals”, he says with a laugh from the isolated farmhouse where he lives with his family in the scattered town of Sords. He landed in Girona in 2006 with his wife, Nicole, invited by the American Christian Vande Velde. After two days, he says they already knew it would be their future home. Since then many expatriate professional cyclists have left. But Millar doesn’t see himself living anywhere else: “They say here that when you’re young you live happily in Girona, that when you’re young you decide to go to Barcelona, but that there’s nothing like growing old in Banyoles”.
Cornelà del Terri
Municipality located in Pla de l’Estany
2.422 habitants
Millar has lived since 2010 with his wife, Nicole, and three children in a completely renovated farmhouse in the scattered village of Sords, with only 180 inhabitants, and which belongs to Cornellà del Terri.
Millar’s little world is Plan de l’Estany. It has the studio, shop and showroom of CHPT3 on the first floor of number 32 on La Rambla de Girona, but whenever he can he works from the Masia de Sords, from where he can see all the peaks where he still likes to cycle: “We are from l’Estany, in Girona we don’t go there much.” It has rained a lot since he got a professional cycling team to train at the same place for the first time. That step led to the expansion of the expatriate community in Girona. Millar was the one who invited the Canadian Christian Meier, who in 2015 opened the first cycling cafe in Girona with his wife Amber. Now there are eight. “There has been a generational change, but the most interesting thing is that Girona has become a prestigious destination where many young people want to live their dream”, he says, although he says that he has already come out of the “bubble” for take root in Pla de l’Estany.
Cornellà del Terri public school
The rooting would not have been the same without the Cornellà del Terri public school. The Millar couple settled in the Sords farmhouse in 2010 and a year later the first of three children was born who are now 11, 9 and 6 years old. “We were the first expatriate cyclists to take our children to public school and it was the best decision”, he says. Tot i que ell no parla en català i s’explica també amb dificultats en castellà –l’entrevista transcorre en anglès–, la seva dona Nicole i els tres fills –educats en la immersió lingüística– sí que el parlen i és la llengua de communication to the people. Next year the time will come for the eldest to go to high school, and it will be following the same model: in Banyoles. The school bus picks them up at the end of the track that leads to their house and that leads to a road that passes by a small medieval bridge that crosses the River Terri.
Banyoles Swimming Club
Sport marks the family’s day-to-day life. While Millar continues to pedal, his wife Nicole has turned the Club Natació Banyoles into a center of reference. She defines herself as a true expatriate: the daughter of Dutch and South African parents, she grew up in the Middle East and then moved to the United Kingdom and Catalonia. That’s why he emphasizes that he has found his true home next to the lake. “It’s a historic meeting place for bathers,” he says before going for a swim. They love the grass space reserved for club members around the lake, where they spend long stretches in the spring, summer and this fall so far this summer. “You don’t need the beach anymore when you have the lake”, adds the ex-cyclist, although he is also in love with Empúries.
Can Boix de Vilamarí
Cornellà del Terri traditionally looks towards Banyoles and the highway that connects with Girona. But it is also the starting point for the entire Pla de l’Estany area that connects to l’Escala (Alt Empordà) through the race that passes near Pujals dels Pagesos – where he lived for two years renting Millar marriage – and goes as far as Sant Esteve de Guialbes. Halfway there is the small town of Vilamarí, with Can Boix as a reference restaurant. This former inn, which now offers a gourmet experience, became Millar’s second home in 2015 when he was writing his second autobiographical book: The racer (2016). “He had lunch there every day, to the point where they named his steak with ratafia sauce and brown potatoes on the menu as the David Millar steak,” he explains. The friendship with the family has grown and, although they don’t go there as much now because they have three children “and the social life has decreased”, every year they invite them to the Christmas party at the farmhouse deaf
Rocacorba
In David Millar’s small world there had to be a peak. And it couldn’t be any other than Rocacorba’s, which he sees from home. “Rocacorba has become the iconic peak of Girona. Every cycling location has an iconic location, such as Monte Serra in Tuscany, La Madone in Nice or the port of sa Calobra in Mallorca,” he says. During the years as a professional cyclist, he could climb it more than once a day with the team passing through Pujarnol: “It’s a very hard climb, perfect for training, and it’s a peak you always have on the horizon.” Now, on quieter days, he loves to go around Banyoles which leaves Cornellà and goes through Vilamarí, Galliners, Orfes, Esponellà, Banyoles, Camós and back home. Along the way, don’t miss a stop at the Esteve Bosch Sabater d’Esponellà bread oven. “Fortunately, it hasn’t changed over the years”, he concludes.
