Willy Voet
Encyclopedia
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
(often dubbed the "Tour of Shame").
On July 8, 1998, Voet was stopped by French Customs agents
as he tried to cross the French-Belgian border close to Neuville-en-Ferrain
, near Lille
in northern France
. In his Festina
team car, the agents found large quantities of syringe
s and controlled substance
s including narcotic
s, erythropoietin
(EPO), growth hormone
s, testosterone
and amphetamine
s. He was arrested and the Festina cycling team was suspended from the race. Further investigation lead to the suspension, arrest and prosecution of numerous Festina and TVM
team riders and staff.
In 2000, Voet went on trial. He was convicted, given a 10-month suspended sentence
and (the equivalent of) a US$4,200 fine.
Voet's book Massacre á la Chaine (translated as "Breaking The Chain") was released in 1999. In it, he claims to have revealed all that he knew regarding doping practices in the cycling world.
Voet says he worked with the Festina team doctor, Eric Rykaert, whose opinion was that drug-taking could not be eliminated from cycling and that it would be better therefore to see that doping happened with medical supervision. Rykaert died soon after the Festina trial and Voet left the sport to become a bus driver. He has been declared persona non grata by the Tour de France management and been asked to stay away from the race even as a private individual. He does maintain contact with cycling, however, and sometimes appears at seminars aimed at a greater understanding and greater restriction of drug-taking in cycling.
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...
sports physiotherapist
Physical therapy
Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
. He is most widely known for his involvement in the Festina affair
Festina affair
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...
in 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...
(often dubbed the "Tour of Shame").
On July 8, 1998, Voet was stopped by French Customs agents
Border control
Border controls are measures used by a country to monitor or regulate its borders.The control of the flow of many people, animals and goods across a border may be controlled by government Customs services. Security is enforced by various kinds of Border Guards and Coast Guards...
as he tried to cross the French-Belgian border 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...
. In his Festina
Festina
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....
team car, the agents found large quantities of syringe
Syringe
A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...
s and controlled substance
Controlled substance
A controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession, or use are regulated by a government. This may include illegal drugs and prescription medications ....
s including narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s, erythropoietin
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
(EPO), growth hormone
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. Growth hormone is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior...
s, testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
and amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s. He was arrested and the Festina cycling team was suspended from the race. Further investigation lead to the suspension, arrest and prosecution of numerous Festina and TVM
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:...
team riders and staff.
In 2000, Voet went on trial. He was convicted, 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 (the equivalent of) a US$4,200 fine.
Voet's book Massacre á la Chaine (translated as "Breaking The Chain") was released in 1999. In it, he claims to have revealed all that he knew regarding doping practices in the cycling world.
Voet says he worked with the Festina team doctor, Eric Rykaert, whose opinion was that drug-taking could not be eliminated from cycling and that it would be better therefore to see that doping happened with medical supervision. Rykaert died soon after the Festina trial and Voet left the sport to become a bus driver. He has been declared persona non grata by the Tour de France management and been asked to stay away from the race even as a private individual. He does maintain contact with cycling, however, and sometimes appears at seminars aimed at a greater understanding and greater restriction of drug-taking in cycling.
See also
- 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...
- Doping at the Tour de FranceDoping at the Tour de FranceThere have been allegations of doping in the Tour de France since the race began in 1903. Early Tour riders consumed alcohol and used ether, among other substances, as a means of dulling the pain of competing in endurance cycling...
- List of doping cases in cycling