Festina affair
Encyclopedia
The Festina Affair refers to the events that surrounded several doping scandals
, doping investigations and confessions by riders to doping that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France
. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a car of the Festina cycling team
just before the start of the race. An investigation was followed by the opening of a separate case into the TVM team
and the subsequent searching of many teams during the race. The investigation revealed systematic doping, and suspicion was raised that there may have been a widespread network of doping involving many teams of the Tour de France. Publicity on the case was constant and negative. Hotels were searched by police, and a spate of confessions were made by retired and current riders. Many team personnel were arrested or detained, and protests were made by riders in the race. Several teams withdrew from the race.
began that year in Dublin, Ireland
; it would be starting for the first time in Ireland
. The race was to begin on July 11, later than usual due to the 1998 FIFA World Cup
being held in France. Ahead of the race the former Irish professionals Sean Kelly
, Stephen Roche
and Martin Earley
were being presented with awards, while the organisation of the race in Ireland led by Pat McQuaid
, Alan Rushton and Mick Bennett, as well as the authorities of Dublin, prepared for the disruption to the city. The favourites such as Jan Ullrich
, Bjarne Riis
and Erik Zabel
arrived via air in the days preceding the race. The arrival of the Tour was seen as a great coup for Ireland according to the then Minister for Sport
Jim McDaid
. It represented a huge logistics operation from each of the teams: in total 3,500 personnel would have to be transported and 1,500 vehicles would be shipped to Ireland and back to France.
, Belgian soigneur of the Festina team and personal carer of Richard Virenque
was stopped by customs officer
s at the Belgian-French border
close to Neuville-en-Ferrain
near Lille
in Northern France
. Officers discovered several hundred grams and capsules of anabolic steroids, Erythropoietin (EPO)
, syringes and other doping products. Voet was taken into police custody. Festina offices were searched in the evening in Lyon
and other suspect products were seized. One of the substances that was found that would later be discussed was perfluorocarbon which was said to be an artificial carrier of oxygen
. The substance was very dangerous to take and is suspected to have caused the near fatal collapse of Swiss
rider Mauro Gianetti
during the 1997 Tour de Romandie
.
July 10, 1998: Bruno Roussel, directeur sportif
of Festina, declared a day before the start of the Tour in Dublin that he had nothing to do with the drugs find. He claimed that Voet was not supposed to be with the team for the Tour. Meanwhile a judicial inquiry into the importation and illegal circulation of contraband items began in France. It was announced that Voet would be imprisoned in Loos
for two weeks.
July 11, 1998: French police state that the car contained 250 bottles of EPO (originating from three labs in Germany
and Switzerland
), plus 400 bottles and ampules of various products. Voet is alleged to have driven from Lyon, France via Switzerland to Germany and from there to Belgium
. In the Festina headquarters the police allege that they found a document with systematic drug programmes for the riders of Festina. As the race began in Dublin, it was announced that the Festina riders Richard Virenque
, Alex Zülle
and Laurent Dufaux
would face questioning when they returned to France.
July 14, 1998: Gérard Gremion, a doctor from Switzerland
said in the French newspaper, France-Soir, that 99% of the peloton
used doping. Roussel and Festina team doctor
Eric Rijckaert continued to deny doping on the team.
July 15, 1998: Roussel and Rijkaert are taken into custody in Cholet
. The Festina hotel was searched by 8 gendarmes
.
July 16, 1998: Roussel lost his licence as a manager of a cycling team
from the UCI
but the Festina team appeared to be able to continue in the race due to Miguel Moreno together with Michael Gros taking it over. Virenque, Dufaux and Brochard called a press conference before the stage and assured that the team would not withdraw from the race.
July 17, 1998: Roussel admitted to systematic doping on the team. In the late evening, Tour de France race directeur Jean-Marie Leblanc
expelled the Festina team from the Tour; they would not start the seventh stage (July 18).
July 18, 1998: Virenque left the Tour in tears.
July 19, 1998: French daily Aujourd’hui
reported that on March 4, 1998 police found 104 ampules of EPO in a vehicle of the TVM team
. This occurred following a race (GP Valencia) during a routine customs check close to Reims
in North-East France. Team mechanics
were driving the vehicle at the time. The judicial authorities did not make the case a priority. Meanwhile the new Festina assistant manager Michael Gros alleged that Festina did what every team was doing.
July 21, 1998: The lawyer of Rijkaert alleged that his client had told that there was a special doping fund with the Festina team. This fund was used to procure doping products and had about 60.000 euro (at the time described in francs). A former TVM rider, Alain van den Bosche, admitted to taking EPO while on the team.
July 23, 1998: Nine riders and three officials from Festina are taken into police custody. In Pamiers
, Cees Priem the manager of the TVM team and Andrei Michailov, the TVM team doctor, are taken into custody and detained overnight. Four other TVM officials including directeur sportif
Hendrik Redant are also interrogated but are later released. Priem and Michailov were arrested after the French police raided the Hotel de la Rocade in Palmiers, the hotel that the team was staying in. Police found drug evidence in a suitcase
and a rubbish bin in TVM’s hotel room in Toulouse
and Metz
.
Eric van de Sijpe, a Belgian judge
, ordered a search of the offices of the Festina doctor (who lived in Belgium) whereby the police obtained computer files proving the riders were using EPO. Festina riders (Richard Virenque, Pascal Hervé
, Didier Rous
, Alex Zülle, Armin Meier and Laurent Dufaux
) are questioned in Lyon and held in police custody. Police announce that they will also question the Rabobank
and Casino teams. The nine Festina riders were escorted to a hospital and obligated to undergo extensive tests and sample giving such as blood, hair and urine samples.
The television crew of France 2
found needles with the remains of banned substances in the hotel room of the Asics team (who were also riding the Tour). The syringes allegedly had the initials of the riders of the team.
July 24, 1998: Priem and Michailov are transferred to Foix
. The nine riders from Festina are let free. Five of them (Zülle, Dufaux, Moreau, Brochard en Meier) have admitted to doping. Virenque claims that he is clean. Hervé also maintains he is innocent. An investigation into TVM begins. Stage 12 is interrupted for two hours by riders.
Interim Festina manager Moreno is also released on bail while former manager Roussel, masseur Voet and doctor Rijckaert are held. The revelations of Meier provoked the riders strike in the stage. A second investigation is launched into the drugs find of the TVM team during the Tour. Voet and Roussel explain how doping was organised on the team and that the other teams are involved in smuggling. Alex Zülle also admits to doping but claims that he needed to do so to satisfy his sponsors. Zülle claims that he was deprived of his spectacles during the police interview. Dufaux admitted to doping in police custody because the evidence proving that he was doping was overpowering, he claimed.
July 27, 1998:: The police say that the Festina affair and the TVM affair are not connected. Priem and Michailov are still held in custody. The President of the International Olympic Committee
Juan Antonio Samaranch called for performance enhancing drugs
to be legalised. His call was supported by two cycling teams, Banesto and Team ONCE. Cees Priem and Alexandrei Mikhailov are taken by car from Foix to Reims
and are still detained. Neil Stephens
, a Festina rider at the Tour, admits taking performance enhancing drugs but claims that he thought the EPO injections were vitamin C and E supplements.
July 28, 1998: Two former riders of Festina, Gilles Bouvard and Emmanuel Magnien, confess to doping. Roussel is released on bail. TVM are met by the police in Albertville
; six TVM riders including sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens
, Bart Voskamp
, Servais Knaven
and Steven de Jongh
are taken in the night to the hospital where they give blood
, hair and urine samples. TVM Soigneur Jan Moors is arrested.
Police also take three cases, a sports bag and a dustbin from the team. Afterwards the rest of the team are taken into custody and escorted to the hospital for extensive drug tests.
July 29, 1998: The Tour peloton conducted an industrial dispute by cycling very slowly. The champion of France, Laurent Jalabert
pulled out first followed by the rest of his team, Team ONCE. The Spanish team Banesto and the Italian team Risco Scotti left at the feeding zone. The peloton stopped a second time and threatened a mass withdrawal against the treatment of the Tour riders as criminals. At a slow tempo, the peloton walked to Aix-les-Bains and the stage was cancelled. In the afternoon there was a raid on Team ONCE , Team Polti
, La Française des Jeux, Lotto and Casino. Team managers Marc Madiot
(La Française des Jeux), Vincent Lavenu
(Casino) and the rider Rodolfo Massi
(Casino) are arrested. It was also announced that Coca-Cola
, a major sponsor of the Tour de France, decided to withdraw from sponsoring the race.
July 30, 1998: Kelme and Vitalicio Seguros
pull out of the Tour before the 18th stage. TVM rider Jeroen Blijlevens pulls out near the border with Switzerland. Rodolfo Massi
, leader of the Mountains classification, was not able to start the stage as he was still being held in police custody. The truck of the Casino team was seized by police. The media reports that the drugs found in Voet’s car were destined to be shared by three other teams – Big Mat, La Française des Jeux and Casino. These teams were allegedly mentioned by Festina riders during their confessions.
July 31, 1998: Blijlevens arrived back in the Netherlands and was joined by the rest of the TVM team who did not start the 19th stage. Massi and Terrados are taken from Chambérg to Lille where investigating judge Patrick Keil would interrogate them. Massi was suspected to be involved in the Festina drugs network and in smuggling of drugs from Italy to France. Massi was allegedly known in the peloton as the little chemist. At this stage there are less than one hundred riders in the race compared to the 189 riders that started the race.
August 1, 1998: Massi is charged with inciting and facilitating the use of doping.
August 3, 1998: Cees Priem, Andrej Michailov and Jan Moors are still held in prison. TVM riders have to present themselves in Reims. After several hours of questioning they are released. TVM masseur Johannes Moors is jailed for suspicion of possessing drugs and breaches of French customs laws. Police find banned substances in the hotel of Team ONCE. Team doctor Terrados alleges that these substances were used by support staff.
August 4, 1998: Jean-Marie Leblanc acknowledges that the increasing speed of the peloton in the Tour was due to the increasing use of doping in the peloton.
August 5, 1998: The media contains many reports of drug finds along the route of the Tour – by farmers or by police in the hotels used by teams – for example a hotel in Voreppe used by GAN, Casino, Saeco and Kelme.
August 10, 1998: Cantina Tollo and La Française des Jeux vehicles are searched by French customs officials.
September 18, 1998: Française des Jeux soigneur Jef d'Hont is taken into police custody and imprisoned for 11 days.
September 23, 1998: Voet accuses Virenque of doping in the French newspaper Le Parisien
. Voet said to the newspaper that only three Festina riders were drug free. These were Christophe Bassons
, Patrice Halgand
and Laurent Lefevre
.
October 15, 1998: There is a confrontation between Virenque, Voet and Rijckaert where Virenque calls himself an innocent victim.
November 28, 1998: The results of the analysis of the samples taken from the nine Festina riders are known and are subsequently released and revealed evidence of Human Growth Hormone, amphetamines, steroids, corticoids and Erythropoietin (EPO)
. In eight of the nine riders test positive for synthetic EPO. The results of the ninth rider (Christophe Moreau
) were indeterminate but Moreau had already admitted use of EPO. Traces of amphetamines were found in the samples of Moreau, Pascal Hervé
, Laurent Brochard
and Didier Rous
. Four riders had hematocrit
levels below the legal limit of 50%, establish in February 1997 . These included Virenque, Armin Meier, Moreau who had a level of 49.3 and Laurent Dufaux
who had a level of 47.2%. Five riders were above the limit. Brochard had 50.3%, Neil Stephens
50.3%, Hervé 52.6%, Rous 51% and Alex Zülle 52.3%.
December 15, 1998: Laurent Brochard
, Christophe Moreau
and Didier Rous
are suspended by the French Cycling Federation
for six months and cannot ride until April 30, 1999.
December 17, 1998: Team doctor of Team ONCE Nicolas Terrados is charged in relation to the import of banned substances.
communications director, is charged.
March 23, 1999: Jean Marie Dalibot, the soigneur of Festina, is charged.
March 26, 1999: Virenque is charged with inciting the use and administration of doping products to others.
April 1, 1999: Jean-Marie Leblanc is taken into police custody and questioned.
April 4, 1999: French Federation Cycling vice president Roger Legacy and President Baal are charged with violation of the anti-doping law of 1989. (These charges would be subsequently dropped).
June, 1999: In an interview with L'Équipe
, Roussel alleged that when he told Virenque of Voet being arrested, Virenque replied mes produits, comment Je vais faire maintenant? which could be translated as my products/stuff - what am I going to do now?
June 17, 1999: The organisers of the Tour de France announce the teams of the 1999 Tour de France
where they take the unprecedented step of banning teams, team officials and individual riders. In the aftermath of the Festina affair, Virenque was banned together his former teammate Hervé. Manolo Saiz
, manager of ONCE-Deutsche Bank, Dr Nicolas Terrados team doctor of Team ONCE and the entire TVM-Farm Frites
were also banned. This was in relation to the actions and behaviour of these teams and riders during the 1998 Tour.
Witnesses included:
On the first day of the trial, Voet states that he never let the hematocrit
level of the riders exceed 54% whereas other teams were letting it go as high as 64%. This was under the order of team doctor Eric Rijckaert.
October 24, 2000: Virenque admitted to doping.
October 25, 2000: Pascal Hervé
, Virenque's friend and the only other Festina rider to deny doping admitted to doping.
October 27, 2000: Former rider Thomas Davy testified at the trial that the teams Castorama
, Banesto, Team Telekom and La Française des Jeux also had doping programs.
November 1, 2000: On the stand UCI President Hein Verbruggen admitted that organised doping may exist. The following day several doctors of Spanish
cycling team
s responded by refuting this statement. Jesús Hoyos (Banesto), Kepa Celaya (ONCE) and Eufemiano Fuentes
(Kelme doctor) spoke to the Spanish daily paper As to refute this statement. Fuentes would later emerge as the key figure in the Operación Puerto doping scandal.
December 22, 2000: Virenque was cleared. Voet was given a 10 month suspended sentence
and a 30,000 franc fine. Bruno Roussel, was given a suspended sentence of 1 year and a fine of 50,000 francs. Christine Paranier received a 30,000 francs fine (4,573 euros). Her husband Éric received a fine of 10,000 francs (around 1,500 euros). Jef d'Hont received a nine month suspended sentence and a fine of 20,000 francs (around 3,000 euros). Jean Dalibot and Joel Chabiron received a five month suspended sentence. Dr. Terrados was given a 30,000 francs fine. The case against Eric Rijckaert was dropped due to his deteriorating health. He would die a month later of cancer.
December 30, 2000: Swiss cycling federation
gave a nine month ban to Virenque and a 4,000 Swiss franc fine.
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
, doping investigations and confessions by riders to doping that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France
1998 Tour de France
The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...
. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a car of the Festina cycling team
Festina cycling team
Festina is a former professional cycling team that was active in the professional peloton from 1989 to 2001. The team was sponsored by the watch manufacturers Festina Lotus AV.-Beginnings:...
just before the start of the race. An investigation was followed by the opening of a separate case into the TVM team
TVM (cycling team)
TVM was a Dutch road bicycle racing team. It folded in 2000, two years after suffering a doping scandal. Farm Frites continued as a sponsor in 2001 with the new team, .-Names:-Riders:...
and the subsequent searching of many teams during the race. The investigation revealed systematic doping, and suspicion was raised that there may have been a widespread network of doping involving many teams of the Tour de France. Publicity on the case was constant and negative. Hotels were searched by police, and a spate of confessions were made by retired and current riders. Many team personnel were arrested or detained, and protests were made by riders in the race. Several teams withdrew from the race.
Introduction
The Tour de FranceTour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
began that year in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
; it would be starting for the first time in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The race was to begin on July 11, later than usual due to the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
being held in France. Ahead of the race the former Irish professionals Sean Kelly
Seán Kelly (cyclist)
John James 'Sean' Kelly is an Irish former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the most successful road cyclists of the 1980s, and one of the finest classics riders of all time. From turning professional in 1977 until his retirement in 1994, he won nine monument classics, and 193...
, Stephen Roche
Stephen Roche
Stephen Roche is a retired professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming only the second cyclist to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia stage races, plus the World road race championship...
and Martin Earley
Martin Earley
Martin Earley is a former Irish professional road bicycle racer.He turned professional in 1985 with the Fagor team with whom he stayed until 1987. In 1986 he won the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia and the second of the Vuelta al País Vasco...
were being presented with awards, while the organisation of the race in Ireland led by Pat McQuaid
Pat McQuaid
Patrick "Pat" McQuaid is a former Irish professional road racing cyclist and current president of the Union Cycliste Internationale .-Background:...
, Alan Rushton and Mick Bennett, as well as the authorities of Dublin, prepared for the disruption to the city. The favourites such as Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...
, Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis , nicknamed The Eagle from Herning , is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard...
and Erik Zabel
Erik Zabel
Erik Zabel is a former German professional road bicycle racer who last raced with Milram. With over 200 professional wins he is considered by some one of the greatest German cyclists and best cycling sprinters of history...
arrived via air in the days preceding the race. The arrival of the Tour was seen as a great coup for Ireland according to the then Minister for Sport
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Ireland)
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is the senior minister at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the Government of Ireland.The current minister is Jimmy Deenihan, TD. He is assisted by:...
Jim McDaid
Jim McDaid
James "Jim" McDaid is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician and medical doctor. He served as a Teachta Dála for the Donegal North East constituency from June 1989 until he resigned in November 2010.-Early life:...
. It represented a huge logistics operation from each of the teams: in total 3,500 personnel would have to be transported and 1,500 vehicles would be shipped to Ireland and back to France.
1998 Tour de France
July 8, 1998: Willy VoetWilly Voet
Willy Voet is a Belgian sports physiotherapist. He is most widely known for his involvement in the Festina affair in the 1998 Tour de France ....
, Belgian soigneur of the Festina team and personal carer of Richard Virenque
Richard Virenque
Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", making it Vee-rank. But Virenque says Vee-rahnk or...
was stopped by customs officer
Customs officer
A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.-Hong Kong:4 931 posts, of which nine are directorate officers, 3 804 are members of the Customs and Excise Department, 504 are Trade Controls Officers and 614 are staff of the General and Common...
s at the Belgian-French border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
close to Neuville-en-Ferrain
Neuville-en-Ferrain
-References:*...
near Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
in Northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Officers discovered several hundred grams and capsules of anabolic steroids, Erythropoietin (EPO)
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
, syringes and other doping products. Voet was taken into police custody. Festina offices were searched in the evening in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and other suspect products were seized. One of the substances that was found that would later be discussed was perfluorocarbon which was said to be an artificial carrier of oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
. The substance was very dangerous to take and is suspected to have caused the near fatal collapse of Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
rider Mauro Gianetti
Mauro Gianetti
Mauro Gianetti is a Swiss directeur sportif, and a former rider in professional road bicycle racing. Gianetti is employed as team manager for the cycling team....
during the 1997 Tour de Romandie
Tour de Romandie
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
.
July 10, 1998: Bruno Roussel, directeur sportif
Directeur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
of Festina, declared a day before the start of the Tour in Dublin that he had nothing to do with the drugs find. He claimed that Voet was not supposed to be with the team for the Tour. Meanwhile a judicial inquiry into the importation and illegal circulation of contraband items began in France. It was announced that Voet would be imprisoned in Loos
Loos
Loos may refer to:Places* Loos, Nord, France* Loos-en-Gohelle, France* Loos Islands, also known as Îles de Los, Guinea* Loos, British Columbia, Canada* Los, SwedenPeople*Loos Other...
for two weeks.
July 11, 1998: French police state that the car contained 250 bottles of EPO (originating from three labs in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), plus 400 bottles and ampules of various products. Voet is alleged to have driven from Lyon, France via Switzerland to Germany and from there to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. In the Festina headquarters the police allege that they found a document with systematic drug programmes for the riders of Festina. As the race began in Dublin, it was announced that the Festina riders Richard Virenque
Richard Virenque
Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", making it Vee-rank. But Virenque says Vee-rahnk or...
, Alex Zülle
Alex Zülle
Alex Zülle is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the best cyclists in the world, winning the Vuelta a España twice and taking the second place in 1999 Tour de France. He was world time-trial champion in Lugano in 1996.-Early career:Zülle was born and...
and Laurent Dufaux
Laurent Dufaux
Laurent Dufaux was a professional road cyclist from 1991 - 2003.- Major results :1993199419951996-External links:**...
would face questioning when they returned to France.
July 14, 1998: Gérard Gremion, a doctor from Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
said in the French newspaper, France-Soir, that 99% of the peloton
Peloton
The peloton , field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close near other riders...
used doping. Roussel and Festina team doctor
Team physician
The team physician for a sports team is the physician who is in charge of coordinating the medical staff and medical services for a sports team. They are also subject to activities involving team building...
Eric Rijckaert continued to deny doping on the team.
July 15, 1998: Roussel and Rijkaert are taken into custody in Cholet
Cholet
Cholet is a commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire department. It was the capital of military Vendée.-Geography:Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century...
. The Festina hotel was searched by 8 gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
.
July 16, 1998: Roussel lost his licence as a manager of a cycling team
Cycling team
A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races whether recreational or professional - and the supporting personnel...
from the UCI
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
but the Festina team appeared to be able to continue in the race due to Miguel Moreno together with Michael Gros taking it over. Virenque, Dufaux and Brochard called a press conference before the stage and assured that the team would not withdraw from the race.
July 17, 1998: Roussel admitted to systematic doping on the team. In the late evening, Tour de France race directeur Jean-Marie Leblanc
Jean-Marie Leblanc
Jean-Marie Leblanc is a French retired professional road bicycle racer who was general director of the Tour de France from 1989 to 2005, when he reached pensionable age and was succeeded by Christian Prudhomme.He became a professional in 1966 and rode until 1971...
expelled the Festina team from the Tour; they would not start the seventh stage (July 18).
July 18, 1998: Virenque left the Tour in tears.
July 19, 1998: French daily Aujourd’hui
Aujourd'hui (French newspaper)
Aujourd'hui was a daily newspaper which styled itself as "independent" and which was created in August 1940 by Henri Jeanson, to replace le Canard enchaîné under agreement with the Germans....
reported that on March 4, 1998 police found 104 ampules of EPO in a vehicle of the TVM team
TVM (cycling team)
TVM was a Dutch road bicycle racing team. It folded in 2000, two years after suffering a doping scandal. Farm Frites continued as a sponsor in 2001 with the new team, .-Names:-Riders:...
. This occurred following a race (GP Valencia) during a routine customs check close to Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
in North-East France. Team mechanics
Bicycle mechanic
A bicycle mechanic is a mechanic who can perform a wide range of repairs on bicycles. Bike mechanics can be employed in various types of stores, ranging from large department stores to small local bike shops; cycling teams, or bicycle manufacturers....
were driving the vehicle at the time. The judicial authorities did not make the case a priority. Meanwhile the new Festina assistant manager Michael Gros alleged that Festina did what every team was doing.
July 21, 1998: The lawyer of Rijkaert alleged that his client had told that there was a special doping fund with the Festina team. This fund was used to procure doping products and had about 60.000 euro (at the time described in francs). A former TVM rider, Alain van den Bosche, admitted to taking EPO while on the team.
July 23, 1998: Nine riders and three officials from Festina are taken into police custody. In Pamiers
Pamiers
Pamiers is a commune in the Ariège department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Although Pamiers is the largest city in Ariège, the capital is the smaller town of Foix...
, Cees Priem the manager of the TVM team and Andrei Michailov, the TVM team doctor, are taken into custody and detained overnight. Four other TVM officials including directeur sportif
Directeur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
Hendrik Redant are also interrogated but are later released. Priem and Michailov were arrested after the French police raided the Hotel de la Rocade in Palmiers, the hotel that the team was staying in. Police found drug evidence in a suitcase
Suitcase
A suitcase is a general term for a distinguishable form of luggage. It is often a somewhat flat, rectangular-shaped bag with rounded/square corners, either metal, hard plastic or made of cloth, vinyl or leather that more or less keeps its shape. It has a carrying handle on one side and is used...
and a rubbish bin in TVM’s hotel room in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
and Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
.
Eric van de Sijpe, a Belgian judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, ordered a search of the offices of the Festina doctor (who lived in Belgium) whereby the police obtained computer files proving the riders were using EPO. Festina riders (Richard Virenque, Pascal Hervé
Pascal Hervé
Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist. He was tested positive for EPO after the prologue in 2001 Giro d'Italia.- Major achievements :1994Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist...
, Didier Rous
Didier Rous
Didier Rous is a former professional road bicycle racer.He started his professional career with Gan in 1993 before leaving for Festina in 1997, the year in which he won a stage of the Tour de France...
, Alex Zülle, Armin Meier and Laurent Dufaux
Laurent Dufaux
Laurent Dufaux was a professional road cyclist from 1991 - 2003.- Major results :1993199419951996-External links:**...
) are questioned in Lyon and held in police custody. Police announce that they will also question the Rabobank
Rabobank (cycling)
Rabobank is a professional bicycle racing team, sponsored by the Rabobank. The team consists of three sections: ProTeam , Continental , and Cyclo-cross...
and Casino teams. The nine Festina riders were escorted to a hospital and obligated to undergo extensive tests and sample giving such as blood, hair and urine samples.
The television crew of France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
found needles with the remains of banned substances in the hotel room of the Asics team (who were also riding the Tour). The syringes allegedly had the initials of the riders of the team.
July 24, 1998: Priem and Michailov are transferred to Foix
Foix
Foix is a commune, the capital of the Ariège department in southwestern France. It is the least populous administrative centre of a department in all of France, although it is only very slightly smaller than Privas...
. The nine riders from Festina are let free. Five of them (Zülle, Dufaux, Moreau, Brochard en Meier) have admitted to doping. Virenque claims that he is clean. Hervé also maintains he is innocent. An investigation into TVM begins. Stage 12 is interrupted for two hours by riders.
Interim Festina manager Moreno is also released on bail while former manager Roussel, masseur Voet and doctor Rijckaert are held. The revelations of Meier provoked the riders strike in the stage. A second investigation is launched into the drugs find of the TVM team during the Tour. Voet and Roussel explain how doping was organised on the team and that the other teams are involved in smuggling. Alex Zülle also admits to doping but claims that he needed to do so to satisfy his sponsors. Zülle claims that he was deprived of his spectacles during the police interview. Dufaux admitted to doping in police custody because the evidence proving that he was doping was overpowering, he claimed.
July 27, 1998:: The police say that the Festina affair and the TVM affair are not connected. Priem and Michailov are still held in custody. The President of the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
Juan Antonio Samaranch called for performance enhancing drugs
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
to be legalised. His call was supported by two cycling teams, Banesto and Team ONCE. Cees Priem and Alexandrei Mikhailov are taken by car from Foix to Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
and are still detained. Neil Stephens
Neil Stephens
Neil Stephens is an Australian former road bicycle racer. He is a Tour de France stage winner and is a one of only 25 riders and the only Australian to have completed the three Grand Tours in a calendar year. He was involved in the Festina doping scandal in 1998 Tour de France...
, a Festina rider at the Tour, admits taking performance enhancing drugs but claims that he thought the EPO injections were vitamin C and E supplements.
July 28, 1998: Two former riders of Festina, Gilles Bouvard and Emmanuel Magnien, confess to doping. Roussel is released on bail. TVM are met by the police in Albertville
Albertville
Albertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:...
; six TVM riders including sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens
Jeroen Blijlevens
Jeroen Johannes Hendrikus Blijlevens is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1994 to 2004....
, Bart Voskamp
Bart Voskamp
Bertus Voskamp is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1993 to 2005. He competed in five Tour de Frances....
, Servais Knaven
Servais Knaven
Henricus Theodorus Josephus Knaven is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer, currently a directeur sportif for Team Sky. Knaven won Paris–Roubaix in 2001 and is the second rider in history to start and finish the race 16 times...
and Steven de Jongh
Steven de Jongh
Steven de Jongh is a Dutch former road bicycle racer.de Jongh made his professional debut in 1995 at TVM team where he stayed until 1999. From 2000 to 2005 he was part of , while he made the move to in 2006...
are taken in the night to the hospital where they give blood
Blood Sample
Blood Sample is the 10th studio album by the Finnish avant-garde progressive metal band Waltari.-Track listing:# "Helsinki" - 5:53# "Not Enough" - 3:35# "Too Much Emptiness" - 2:30# "Never" - 4:01# "New York" - 3:48# "I'm in Pain" - 4:38...
, hair and urine samples. TVM Soigneur Jan Moors is arrested.
Police also take three cases, a sports bag and a dustbin from the team. Afterwards the rest of the team are taken into custody and escorted to the hospital for extensive drug tests.
July 29, 1998: The Tour peloton conducted an industrial dispute by cycling very slowly. The champion of France, Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" , he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s...
pulled out first followed by the rest of his team, Team ONCE. The Spanish team Banesto and the Italian team Risco Scotti left at the feeding zone. The peloton stopped a second time and threatened a mass withdrawal against the treatment of the Tour riders as criminals. At a slow tempo, the peloton walked to Aix-les-Bains and the stage was cancelled. In the afternoon there was a raid on Team ONCE , Team Polti
Team Polti
Team Polti is a former Italian professional cycling team. Polti became an independent team back in 1994, after the separation of Lampre-Polti, and was active until 2000. Team Polti began in 1994 with Gianluigi Stanga as directeur sportif and Vittorio Algeri and Claudio Corti as managers. The team...
, La Française des Jeux, Lotto and Casino. Team managers Marc Madiot
Marc Madiot
Marc Madiot is a French former professional road racing cyclist and double winner of Paris–Roubaix. Retired from racing in 1994, he is now best known as the directeur sportif of Française des Jeux, a UCI ProTour cycling team....
(La Française des Jeux), Vincent Lavenu
Vincent Lavenu
Vincent Lavenu is a French former professional road bicycle racer and is currently the team manager of the UCI ProTour cycling team.-Professional career:...
(Casino) and the rider Rodolfo Massi
Rodolfo Massi
Rodolfo Massi is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He won a stage in 1996 Giro d'Italia and 1998 Tour de France, but was expelled from the 1998 Tour de France after illegal doping was found in his hotel room...
(Casino) are arrested. It was also announced that Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, a major sponsor of the Tour de France, decided to withdraw from sponsoring the race.
July 30, 1998: Kelme and Vitalicio Seguros
Vitalicio Seguros
Vitalicio Seguros was a Spanish professional road bicycle racing cycling team active between 1998 and 2000. It helped launch the careers of triple world champion Óscar Freire, 2000 Vuelta a España winner Ángel Casero and Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Igor González de Galdeano.The team was...
pull out of the Tour before the 18th stage. TVM rider Jeroen Blijlevens pulls out near the border with Switzerland. Rodolfo Massi
Rodolfo Massi
Rodolfo Massi is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He won a stage in 1996 Giro d'Italia and 1998 Tour de France, but was expelled from the 1998 Tour de France after illegal doping was found in his hotel room...
, leader of the Mountains classification, was not able to start the stage as he was still being held in police custody. The truck of the Casino team was seized by police. The media reports that the drugs found in Voet’s car were destined to be shared by three other teams – Big Mat, La Française des Jeux and Casino. These teams were allegedly mentioned by Festina riders during their confessions.
July 31, 1998: Blijlevens arrived back in the Netherlands and was joined by the rest of the TVM team who did not start the 19th stage. Massi and Terrados are taken from Chambérg to Lille where investigating judge Patrick Keil would interrogate them. Massi was suspected to be involved in the Festina drugs network and in smuggling of drugs from Italy to France. Massi was allegedly known in the peloton as the little chemist. At this stage there are less than one hundred riders in the race compared to the 189 riders that started the race.
August 1, 1998: Massi is charged with inciting and facilitating the use of doping.
August 3, 1998: Cees Priem, Andrej Michailov and Jan Moors are still held in prison. TVM riders have to present themselves in Reims. After several hours of questioning they are released. TVM masseur Johannes Moors is jailed for suspicion of possessing drugs and breaches of French customs laws. Police find banned substances in the hotel of Team ONCE. Team doctor Terrados alleges that these substances were used by support staff.
August 4, 1998: Jean-Marie Leblanc acknowledges that the increasing speed of the peloton in the Tour was due to the increasing use of doping in the peloton.
August 5, 1998: The media contains many reports of drug finds along the route of the Tour – by farmers or by police in the hotels used by teams – for example a hotel in Voreppe used by GAN, Casino, Saeco and Kelme.
August 10, 1998: Cantina Tollo and La Française des Jeux vehicles are searched by French customs officials.
Post Tour Investigation
September 13, 1998: Two pharmacists Christine and Eric Paranier are questioned in respect to supplying illegal doping products to Voet.September 18, 1998: Française des Jeux soigneur Jef d'Hont is taken into police custody and imprisoned for 11 days.
September 23, 1998: Voet accuses Virenque of doping in the French newspaper Le Parisien
Le Parisien
Le Parisien is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It was established as Le Parisien libéré by Émilien Amaury in 1944, and the name was changed to the current one in 1986...
. Voet said to the newspaper that only three Festina riders were drug free. These were Christophe Bassons
Christophe Bassons
Christophe Bassons is a French former professional road racing cyclist whose career ended when he spoke out about doping in the Tour de France.-Origins:...
, Patrice Halgand
Patrice Halgand
Patrice Halgand is a French professional road racing cyclist, who is not currently signed to any team. He was one of only three Festina team riders who were named as clean during the Festina doping scandal during the 1998 Tour de France.Halgand indicated on 28 December 2008 that he is considering...
and Laurent Lefevre
Laurent Lefèvre
Laurent Lefèvre is a French former professional road bicycle racer, last for UCI Professional Continental team...
.
October 15, 1998: There is a confrontation between Virenque, Voet and Rijckaert where Virenque calls himself an innocent victim.
November 28, 1998: The results of the analysis of the samples taken from the nine Festina riders are known and are subsequently released and revealed evidence of Human Growth Hormone, amphetamines, steroids, corticoids and Erythropoietin (EPO)
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
. In eight of the nine riders test positive for synthetic EPO. The results of the ninth rider (Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the GC five times and finished the race as best Frenchman in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005...
) were indeterminate but Moreau had already admitted use of EPO. Traces of amphetamines were found in the samples of Moreau, Pascal Hervé
Pascal Hervé
Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist. He was tested positive for EPO after the prologue in 2001 Giro d'Italia.- Major achievements :1994Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist...
, Laurent Brochard
Laurent Brochard
Laurent Brochard is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain....
and Didier Rous
Didier Rous
Didier Rous is a former professional road bicycle racer.He started his professional career with Gan in 1993 before leaving for Festina in 1997, the year in which he won a stage of the Tour de France...
. Four riders had hematocrit
Hematocrit
The hematocrit or packed cell volume or erythrocyte volume fraction is the percentage of the concentration of red blood cells in blood. It is normally about 45% for men and 40% for women...
levels below the legal limit of 50%, establish in February 1997 . These included Virenque, Armin Meier, Moreau who had a level of 49.3 and Laurent Dufaux
Laurent Dufaux
Laurent Dufaux was a professional road cyclist from 1991 - 2003.- Major results :1993199419951996-External links:**...
who had a level of 47.2%. Five riders were above the limit. Brochard had 50.3%, Neil Stephens
Neil Stephens
Neil Stephens is an Australian former road bicycle racer. He is a Tour de France stage winner and is a one of only 25 riders and the only Australian to have completed the three Grand Tours in a calendar year. He was involved in the Festina doping scandal in 1998 Tour de France...
50.3%, Hervé 52.6%, Rous 51% and Alex Zülle 52.3%.
December 15, 1998: Laurent Brochard
Laurent Brochard
Laurent Brochard is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain....
, Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the GC five times and finished the race as best Frenchman in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005...
and Didier Rous
Didier Rous
Didier Rous is a former professional road bicycle racer.He started his professional career with Gan in 1993 before leaving for Festina in 1997, the year in which he won a stage of the Tour de France...
are suspended by the French Cycling Federation
Fédération Française de Cyclisme
The French Cycling Federation or FFC is the national governing body of cycle racing in France.The FFC is a member of the UCI and the UEC...
for six months and cannot ride until April 30, 1999.
December 17, 1998: Team doctor of Team ONCE Nicolas Terrados is charged in relation to the import of banned substances.
Investigation in 1999 & Aftermath
January 26, 1999: Joel Chabiron, FestinaFestina
thumb|right|Festina watchesFestina is a watch company. It was founded in 1902 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.The manufacture's motto was Festina Lente . In 1984, Spanish industrialist Miguel Rodriguez, already owner of Lotus watches bought Festina and created the group Festina Lotus S.A....
communications director, is charged.
March 23, 1999: Jean Marie Dalibot, the soigneur of Festina, is charged.
March 26, 1999: Virenque is charged with inciting the use and administration of doping products to others.
April 1, 1999: Jean-Marie Leblanc is taken into police custody and questioned.
April 4, 1999: French Federation Cycling vice president Roger Legacy and President Baal are charged with violation of the anti-doping law of 1989. (These charges would be subsequently dropped).
June, 1999: In an interview with L'Équipe
L'Équipe
L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
, Roussel alleged that when he told Virenque of Voet being arrested, Virenque replied mes produits, comment Je vais faire maintenant? which could be translated as my products/stuff - what am I going to do now?
June 17, 1999: The organisers of the Tour de France announce the teams of the 1999 Tour de France
1999 Tour de France
The 1999 Tour de France was the 86th Tour de France, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 1999. It was won by Lance Armstrong, his first of 7 consecutive wins, the most in Tour history. There were no French stage winners for the first time since the 1926 Tour de France.The 1999 edition of Tour de...
where they take the unprecedented step of banning teams, team officials and individual riders. In the aftermath of the Festina affair, Virenque was banned together his former teammate Hervé. Manolo Saiz
Manolo Saiz
Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás is the former team manager of one of the most successful Spanish professional road bicycle racing teams, first called Team ONCE, then Liberty Seguros-Würth, Astana-Würth, and lastly Astana Team.Saiz was a hands-on manager and directeur sportif...
, manager of ONCE-Deutsche Bank, Dr Nicolas Terrados team doctor of Team ONCE and the entire TVM-Farm Frites
TVM (cycling team)
TVM was a Dutch road bicycle racing team. It folded in 2000, two years after suffering a doping scandal. Farm Frites continued as a sponsor in 2001 with the new team, .-Names:-Riders:...
were also banned. This was in relation to the actions and behaviour of these teams and riders during the 1998 Tour.
Festina Trial
October 23, 2000: Festina trial began. Ten people stood trial. The defendants included:- Richard VirenqueRichard VirenqueRichard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", making it Vee-rank. But Virenque says Vee-rahnk or...
, former Festina rider and team leader, charged with inciting the administration of doping and masking products to others and complicity in the importation of drugs. Virenque faced a two year jail sentence and a fine of 100,000 francs. - Bruno Roussel, former directeur sportifDirecteur sportifA directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
and manager of Festina, charged with helping and inciting the use of doping products in competition, importation, smuggling and improper circulation of prohibited substances as well as complicity in the importation, storage and acquisition of illegal substances. - Willy VoetWilly VoetWilly Voet is a Belgian sports physiotherapist. He is most widely known for his involvement in the Festina affair in the 1998 Tour de France ....
, former soigneur, charged with helping and inciting the use of doping in competition, unauthorized importation of drugs, complicity in smuggling and infringements of the narcotics law. - Dr Erik Rijckaert, former Festina doctor, same charges as Roussel plus charged with administering doping products.
- Dr Nicolas Terrados, team doctor of ONCE at time of 1998 Tour de France1998 Tour de FranceThe 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...
and Festina trial, charged with unauthorized importation of drugs - Christine Paranier, pharmacist, charged with helping with the use of doping and infringements in public health law.
- Éric Paranier, pharmacist, same charges as Christine Paranier.
- Jef d'Hont, soigneur of La Française des Jeux team, charged with inciting the use of doping products and infringements of public health law.
- Jean Dalibot, former soigneur, same charges as Jef d'Hont as well as infringements to customs law.
- Joel Chabiron, former Festina communications officer, same charges as Jean Dalibot.
Witnesses included:
- Luc LeblancLuc LeblancLuc Leblanc is a retired professional male cyclist from France. In 1994 he became World Road Champion.-Biography:...
- Erwan Menthéour
- Christophe BassonsChristophe BassonsChristophe Bassons is a French former professional road racing cyclist whose career ended when he spoke out about doping in the Tour de France.-Origins:...
- Thomas Davy
- Laurent BrochardLaurent BrochardLaurent Brochard is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain....
- Hein VerbruggenHein VerbruggenHein Verbruggen , is a Dutch honorary member of the International Olympic Committee since 2008. Previously, he was a member of the IOC and Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008...
- Jean-Marie LeblancJean-Marie LeblancJean-Marie Leblanc is a French retired professional road bicycle racer who was general director of the Tour de France from 1989 to 2005, when he reached pensionable age and was succeeded by Christian Prudhomme.He became a professional in 1966 and rode until 1971...
On the first day of the trial, Voet states that he never let the hematocrit
Hematocrit
The hematocrit or packed cell volume or erythrocyte volume fraction is the percentage of the concentration of red blood cells in blood. It is normally about 45% for men and 40% for women...
level of the riders exceed 54% whereas other teams were letting it go as high as 64%. This was under the order of team doctor Eric Rijckaert.
October 24, 2000: Virenque admitted to doping.
October 25, 2000: Pascal Hervé
Pascal Hervé
Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist. He was tested positive for EPO after the prologue in 2001 Giro d'Italia.- Major achievements :1994Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist...
, Virenque's friend and the only other Festina rider to deny doping admitted to doping.
October 27, 2000: Former rider Thomas Davy testified at the trial that the teams Castorama
Castorama (cycling team)
Castorama is a former French professional cycling team that existed from 1990 to 1995 and was sponsored by the French DIY and home improvement retailer Castorama....
, Banesto, Team Telekom and La Française des Jeux also had doping programs.
November 1, 2000: On the stand UCI President Hein Verbruggen admitted that organised doping may exist. The following day several doctors of Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
cycling team
Cycling team
A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races whether recreational or professional - and the supporting personnel...
s responded by refuting this statement. Jesús Hoyos (Banesto), Kepa Celaya (ONCE) and Eufemiano Fuentes
Eufemiano Fuentes
Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is a Spanish sports doctor best known for being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case.Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and the Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jesús Manzano accused Fuentes of being involved with doping....
(Kelme doctor) spoke to the Spanish daily paper As to refute this statement. Fuentes would later emerge as the key figure in the Operación Puerto doping scandal.
December 22, 2000: Virenque was cleared. Voet was given a 10 month suspended sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
and a 30,000 franc fine. Bruno Roussel, was given a suspended sentence of 1 year and a fine of 50,000 francs. Christine Paranier received a 30,000 francs fine (4,573 euros). Her husband Éric received a fine of 10,000 francs (around 1,500 euros). Jef d'Hont received a nine month suspended sentence and a fine of 20,000 francs (around 3,000 euros). Jean Dalibot and Joel Chabiron received a five month suspended sentence. Dr. Terrados was given a 30,000 francs fine. The case against Eric Rijckaert was dropped due to his deteriorating health. He would die a month later of cancer.
December 30, 2000: Swiss cycling federation
Swiss Cycling
Swiss Cycling is the national governing body of cycle racing in Switzerland.The organisation is a member of the UCI and the UEC....
gave a nine month ban to Virenque and a 4,000 Swiss franc fine.
Books
Many books have been written about the Festina affair.- Willy Voet, Massacre à la chaîne, Calmann-Lévy, 1999 ISBN 2-290-30062-4 translated as Breaking the Chain, ISBN 0-224-06056-2
- Bruno Roussel, Tour de vices, Hachette Littérature, 2001 ISBN 2-012-35585-4
- Richard Virenque (together with C. Eclimont & Guy Caput), Ma Vérité, Editions du Rocher, 1999 ISBN 9-782-268-03305-1
- Jean-François Quénet, Un cyclone nommé dopage: Les secrets du dossier Festina, Broché 1999 ISBN 9-782-263-02865-6
- Daniel Baal, Droit dans le Mur, Editions Glénat, 1999 ISBN 9-782-723-43090-6
- Sylvie Voet, De la poudre aux yeux, Editions Michel Lafon, 2004 ISBN 2-749-90132-4
- Eric Rijckaert, De Zaak Festina:het Recht van antwoord van Dokter Eric Ryckaert, Lannoo – Tirion, 2000 ISBN 9-020-93989-0