Although UK cycling has always lived in the shadow of its continental neighbours, Millar became the 23rd rider from Britain to have successfully completed at least one race.

The baton tends to get handed from one generation to another, with only one race since 1955 failing to feature a Briton on the start list.

This is our guide to Britain's Top 10 Tour riders, based on races ridden and honours won.

1. Robert Millar

The elder Millar's achievement is clear - the only Briton to finish a Tour in the top five and win a major prize in Paris.

The Scot is no relation to his compatriot David and this name is a complete coincidence.

Robert helped the sport gain daily television coverage in Britain when his career coincided with that of brilliant Irishmen Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche.

The era also saw a British trade team, ANC-Halfords, make an unsuccessful assault on the 1987 Tour as the sport gained a new audience.

Millar was a pure mountain climber, light but very powerful on the slopes.

In 1983, he won a stage of his first Tour in the Pyrenees, his country's first victory for eight years, before finishing 14th.

A year later he jumped 10 places, when a second Pyrenean win also came his way, as well as the famous polka dot jersey for the Tour's best climber.

He returned to the stage-winner's podium in 1989, a race which saw him become the only Briton with two top 10 finishes.

2. Barry Hoban

Hoban was a true contender in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

He never wore the yellow jersey but sprinters rarely do.

Hoban was a star of flat Tour stages and one-day classics, and his eight Tour stage wins is a British record unlikely to be broken in the near future.

It happened on the baking slopes of Mont Ventoux in 1967, when Simpson collapsed and got back on his bike before falling again, never to recover.

Tests showed amphetamines in his bloodstream, although this fact has not been allowed to diminish his reputation, since use was widespread in the peloton of the 1960s.

5. Sean Yates

Yates emerged with Robert Millar just as coverage of the sport was increasing, and gave years of loyal service as one of the very best domestiques in the bunch.

Typically for a product of the British racing scene he was also a strong time triallist, and gained his stage win in an individual test at Wasquehal.

Some Tour stage wins come from a lucky break, but this was no such thing - he had beaten the world's best in the "race of truth".

His yellow jersey came on one of Britain's best Tours, that of 1994.

It was just days after Boardman had become the first Briton in 32 years to wear the jersey and also just after Yates had ridden past his own English home.

He was a popular race leader throughout the peloton and thoroughly deserved another day in the limelight as his career approached its end.

Yates managed the ill-fated British Linda McCartney team, which hoped one day to appear at the Tour but collapsed amid financial troubles last January.

6. David Millar

David Millar rode off the ramped start line at the start of last year's Tour and immediately into history as the fourth Briton to wear the yellow jersey.

The Scot, born in Malta and raised between Hong Kong and Maidenhead is a perfect candidate for cycling's cosmopolitan nature.

Unlike many British riders he was never put off by living abroad, although his talent has meant he has never had to struggle in semi-professional teams as so many did.

Millar was plucked from obscurity into the top French team Cofidis at the age of 21 by the same man who discoverd former Tour winners Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon.

In 2001 his main target will be a second prologue win and then the white jersey for best young rider in Paris.

His future targets may include an overall win and number one in the rankings of Britons at the Tour.

7. Michael Wright

With Tommy Simpson's death, 1967 was a tragic Tour for the British.

Yet it was also the first time the country had won two stages in the same race, with Hoban's first win coming alongside Wright's second.

Wright won three stages in his eight Tours, as he and Hoban provided their country with the most consistent period of stage wins it has known.

8. Brian Robinson

Three British riders - including the intriguingly-named Pierre Gachon - made Britain's debut in the 1937 Tour

But it was 1955 before anybody tried again, with nine riders led by Robinson who finished 29th that year and 14th in 1956.

His chances of Tour victory are few and far between since he does not excel in the high mountains, and is not the fastest sprinter.

But intermediate stages are perfect for him, as are the one-day classics in which he has an impressive record.

Sciandri is back in the 2001 race for Lampre-Daikin, after missing 2000 with the Linda McCartney team.

10. Graham Jones

Jones was the best of the many other British professionals who have gone to the Tour without winning a stage or enjoying a day in yellow.

Jones rode from 1980, and reached the high point of 20th place in Paris in only his second Tour.

He now follows the Tour with BBC Radio 5 Live, assisting commentator Simon Brotherton.

Best of the rest

Of the other 42 riders, only Vic Denson (1961-68) and Paul Sherwen rode more than five Tours, while three others have managed top 50 finishes at the race's end.

Sherwen is better known as a TV commentator although British fans must do without him and Phil Liggett after Channel 4's wthdrawal from the sport this year.

But he also finished four Tours during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Derek Harrisson finished 32nd in 1969, and Victor Sutton 37th in 1959.

Probably the unluckiest man to miss our top 10 is Alan Ramsbottom, who finished a heady 16th in the 1963 race.

Others enjoyed success on the continent including Malcolm Elliott, who finished two Tours de France and also won the points jersey outright in the Tour of Spain in 1989.