Coeur de grimpeur - part 3 - ‘Allez Richard’0
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on January 23rd, 2008
So far, le grimpeur has looked at the early career of Richard Virenque, and his two seasons with Polti before the Festina trial in Lille - with Virenque’s doping confession and suspension.
On hand at the trial was cycling’s perhaps most famous soigneur, Willy Voet, who had personally attended to Virenque throughout his career.
An easy going Belgian living in France, Voet had dedicated himself to his craft and was close to his riders. His habit of using the informal ‘tu’ conjugations when speaking French, no matter the occasion, raised the ire of Virenque’s lawyer, who dressed him down for such impertinence.
Voet shot to fame of the worst kind when he was arrested on the Belgian-French border in a Festina team car with a load full of doping products in 1998, on his way to meet the team in the opening days of the Tour de France.
His arrest tore the scab of doping off cycling and set in train a fundamental re-evaluation of sports doping in France, which can be seen today with its tough, criminal laws against doping. (more…)
