1998 Tour de France
Route of the 1998 Tour de France | |||
Race details | |||
---|---|---|---|
Dates | 11 July – 2 August 1998 | ||
Stages | 21+Prologue | ||
Distance | 3,877.1 km (2,409 mi) | ||
Winning time | 92h 49' 46"[1] (39.983 km/h or 24.844 mph) | ||
Palmares | |||
Winner | Marco Pantani (Italy) | (Mercatone Uno) | |
Second | Jan Ullrich (Germany) | (Team Telekom) | |
Third | Bobby Julich (USA) | (Cofidis) | |
Points | Erik Zabel (Germany) | (Team Telekom) | |
Mountains | Christophe Rinero (France) | (Cofidis) | |
Youth | Jan Ullrich (Germany) | (Team Telekom) | |
Team | Cofidis | ||
The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th Tour de France and took place between 11 July and 2 August 1998. For the first time the tour started in Ireland.[2][3] The 1998 tour was marred by several doping scandals throughout, together known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Initially the doping suspicion only surrounded the two teams Festina and TVM, but later investigations and retrospective tests revealed the doping abuse was far more widespread. Therefore, this edition of the Tour also became nicknamed by many media sources, as the "Tour du Dopage" (Tour of Doping).
In 2004, 60 remaining antidoping samples given by riders during the 1998 Tour, were tested retrospectively for recombinant EPO by using three recently developed detection methods. The results of these tests were published to have returned 44 positives and 9 negatives, with the remaining 7 samples not returning any result due to sample degradation. At first, the rider names with a positive sample were not made public, as it had only been conducted as scientific research.[4]
In July 2013, the antidoping committee of the French Senate however decided it would benefit the current doping fight to shed full light on the past, and so decided - as part of their "Commission of Inquiry into the effectiveness of the fight against doping" report - to publish all sample IDs along with the result of the retrospective test. This publication revealed, that the 9 negative samples belonged to 5 riders (of whom two nevertheless had confessed using EPO in that Tour), while the 44 positive samples belonged to 33 riders - including race winner Marco Pantani, runner-up Jan Ullrich, third on the podium Bobby Julich, and points-competition winner Erik Zabel.[5][6] Bobby Julich had already one year prior publication of his positive test, admitted using EPO from August 1996 to July 1998.[7] When combining the EPO abuse confessions of the two riders testing negative with all the positive test results, it was indicated that 35 out of the 38 retrospectively tested riders (92%) had been using EPO in the 1998 Tour de France.
In addition to those 92% of the 38 riders in the retrospective test, who either tested EPO positive or confessed EPO abuse, 9 out of 9 Festina riders and 2 out of 9 TVM riders, who were not tested by the retrospective test but implicated in prior police investigations, also confessed using EPO in the Tour. Finally at least five more riders, who were neither retrospectively tested nor a part of TVM/Festina, opted later on also to confess having doped with EPO in the 1998 edition of the Tour. All in all, more than 50 riders have now been confirmed either by tests/confessions, to have used EPO doping during the 1998 Tour de France.
The 1998 edition of Tour de France was won by Marco Pantani, with podium placing of Jan Ullrich, the defending champion, and American Bobby Julich. Erik Zabel won his third consecutive green jersey in the points classification. Christophe Rinero claimed the polka dot jersey as the winner of the mountains classification.[8]
Teams and riders
Because the 1997 Tour had seen many crashes in the first week, the organisation decided to reduce the number of teams from 22 to 21. 189 riders in 21 teams commenced the 1998 Tour de France, only 96 riders finished.[9] The first round of teams that were invited were the sixteen teams of the UCI Rankings on 1 January 1998, provided that they were still in the top 20 after transfers were factored into the calculation.[10] All these sixteen teams fulfilled this requirement:[11]
Later, the organisation gave wildcards to four teams:[12]
One team was added with a special invitation:[12]
Stages
Stage | Date | Route | Terrain | Length | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | 11 July | Dublin | Individual time trial | 5.6 km (3.5 mi) | Chris Boardman (GBR) |
1 | 12 July | Dublin – Dublin | Plain stage | 180.5 km (112.2 mi) | Tom Steels (BEL) |
2 | 13 July | Enniscorthy – Cork | Plain stage | 205.5 km (127.7 mi) | Ján Svorada (CZE) |
3 | 14 July | Roscoff – Lorient | Plain stage | 169.0 km (105.0 mi) | Jens Heppner (GER) |
4 | 15 July | Plouay – Cholet | Plain stage | 252.0 km (156.6 mi) | Jeroen Blijlevens (NED) |
5 | 16 July | Cholet – Châteauroux | Plain stage | 228.5 km (142.0 mi) | Mario Cipollini (ITA) |
6 | 17 July | La Châtre – Brive-la-Gaillarde | Plain stage | 204.5 km (127.1 mi) | Mario Cipollini (ITA) |
7 | 18 July | Meyrignac-l'Église – Corrèze | Individual time trial | 58.0 km (36.0 mi) | Jan Ullrich (GER) |
8 | 19 July | Brive-la-Gaillarde – Montauban | Plain stage | 190.5 km (118.4 mi) | Jacky Durand (FRA) |
9 | 20 July | Montauban – Pau | Plain stage | 210.0 km (130.5 mi) | Leon van Bon (NED) |
10 | 21 July | Pau – Luchon | Stage with mountain(s) | 196.5 km (122.1 mi) | Rodolfo Massi (ITA) |
11 | 22 July | Luchon – Plateau de Beille | Stage with mountain(s) | 170.0 km (105.6 mi) | Marco Pantani (ITA) |
12 | 24 July | Tarascon-sur-Ariège – Le Cap d'Agde | Plain stage | 222.0 km (137.9 mi) | Tom Steels (BEL) |
13 | 25 July | Frontignan la Peyrade – Carpentras | Plain stage | 196.0 km (121.8 mi) | Daniele Nardello (ITA) |
14 | 26 July | Valréas – Grenoble | Hilly stage | 186.5 km (115.9 mi) | Stuart O'Grady (AUS) |
15 | 27 July | Grenoble – Les Deux Alpes | Stage with mountain(s) | 189.0 km (117.4 mi) | Marco Pantani (ITA) |
16 | 28 July | Vizille – Albertville | Stage with mountain(s) | 204.0 km (126.8 mi) | Jan Ullrich (GER) |
17 | 29 July | Albertville – Aix-les-Bains | Stage with mountain(s) | 149.0 km (92.6 mi) | No winner |
18 | 30 July | Aix-les-Bains – Neuchâtel | Hilly stage | 218.5 km (135.8 mi) | Tom Steels (BEL) |
19 | 31 July | La Chaux-de-Fonds – Autun | Plain stage | 242.0 km (150.4 mi) | Magnus Bäckstedt (SWE) |
20 | 1 August | Montceau-les-Mines – Le Creusot | Individual time trial | 52.0 km (32.3 mi) | Jan Ullrich (GER) |
21 | 2 August | Melun – Paris (Champs-Élysées) | Plain stage | 147.5 km (91.7 mi) | Tom Steels (BEL) |
Classification leadership
- Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions
- In stage 1, Abraham Olano wore the green jersey.
- Other notes
- The white jersey wasn't actually awarded between 1989 and 1999 – the white column in this table represents the leader in the youth classification.
Results
There were several classifications in the 1998 Tour de France. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.[14]
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.[14]
There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorized some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a polkadot jersey.[14]
The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was not marked by a jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible.[14]
For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time.[15]
For the combativity classification, a jury gave points after each stage to the cyclists they considered most combative. The cyclist with the most votes in all stages lead the classification.
General classification
Rank | Name | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Marco Pantani (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | 92h 49' 46" |
2 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Telekom | +3' 21" |
3 | Bobby Julich (USA) | Cofidis | +4' 08" |
4 | Christophe Rinero (FRA) | Cofidis | +9' 16" |
5 | Michael Boogerd (NED) | Rabobank | +11' 26" |
6 | Jean-Cyril Robin (FRA) | US Postal Service | +14' 57" |
7 | Roland Meier (SUI) | Cofidis | +15' 13" |
8 | Daniele Nardello (ITA) | Mapei | +16' 07" |
9 | Giuseppe Di Grande (ITA) | Mapei | +17' 35" |
10 | Axel Merckx (BEL) | Polti | +17' 39" |
Final general classification (11–96) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Team | Time |
11 | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | Telekom | +19' 10" |
12 | Dariusz Baranowski (POL) | US Postal Service | +19' 58" |
13 | Stéphane Heulot (FRA) | Française des Jeux | +20' 57" |
14 | Leonardo Piepoli (SUI) | Saeco | +22' 45" |
15 | Bo Hamburger (DEN) | Casino | +26' 39" |
16 | Kurt Van De Wouwer (BEL) | Lotto | +27' 20" |
17 | Kevin Livingston (USA) | Cofidis | +34' 03" |
18 | Jörg Jaksche (GER) | Polti | +35' 41" |
19 | Peter Farazijn (BEL) | Lotto | +36' 10" |
20 | Andrei Teteriouk (KAZ) | Lotto | +37' 03" |
21 | Udo Bölts (GER) | Telekom | +37' 25" |
22 | Laurent Madouas (FRA) | Lotto | +39' 54" |
23 | Geert Verheyen (BEL) | Lotto | +41' 23" |
24 | Cédric Vasseur (FRA) | Gan | +42' 14" |
25 | Evgueni Berzin (RUS) | Française des Jeux | +42' 51" |
26 | Thierry Bourguignon (FRA) | Big Mat-Auber | +43' 53" |
27 | Georg Totschnig (AUT) | Telekom | +50' 13" |
28 | Benoit Salmon (FRA) | Casino | +51' 18" |
29 | Alberto Elli (ITA) | Casino | +1h 00' 13" |
30 | Philippe Bordenave (FRA) | Big Mat-Auber | +1h 05' 55" |
31 | Christophe Agnolutto (FRA) | Casino | +1h 11' 03" |
32 | Oscar Pozzi (ITA) | Asics-CGA | +1h 14' 54" |
33 | Maarten den Bakker (NED) | Rabobank | +1h 16' 21" |
34 | Patrick Jonker (AUS) | Rabobank | +1h 16' 49" |
35 | Pascal Chanteur (FRA) | Casino | +1h 19' 32" |
36 | Massimiliano Lelli (ITA) | Cofidis | +1h 20' 15" |
37 | Massimo Podenzana (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | +1h 20' 47" |
38 | Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS) | US Postal Service | +1h 22' 40" |
39 | Denis Leproux (FRA) | Big Mat-Auber | +1h 25' 05" |
40 | Beat Zberg (SUI) | Rabobank | +1h 26' 08" |
41 | Lylian Lebreton (FRA) | Big Mat-Auber | +1h 28' 19" |
42 | Andrea Tafi (ITA) | Mapei | +1h 29' 22" |
43 | Rolf Aldag (GER) | Telekom | +1h 29' 27" |
44 | Koos Moerenhout (NED) | Rabobank | +1h 29' 37" |
45 | Peter Meinert (DEN) | US Postal Service | +1h 29' 52" |
46 | Riccardo Forconi (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | +1h 30' 33" |
47 | Fabio Sacchi (ITA) | Polti | +1h 31' 53" |
48 | Marty Jemison (USA) | US Postal Service | +1h 34' 27" |
49 | Nicolas Jalabert (FRA) | Cofidis | +1h 38' 45" |
50 | Massimo Donati (ITA) | Saeco | +1h 38' 59" |
51 | Tyler Hamilton (USA) | US Postal Service | +1h 39' 53" |
52 | Simone Borgheresi (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | +1h 40' 04" |
53 | George Hincapie (USA) | US Postal Service | +1h 40' 39" |
54 | Stuart O'Grady (AUS) | Gan | +1h 46' 04" |
55 | Filippo Simeoni (ITA) | Asics-CGA | +1h 47' 19" |
56 | Jens Heppner (GER) | Telekom | +1h 50' 43" |
57 | François Simon (FRA) | Gan | +1h 52' 41" |
58 | Frankie Andreu (USA) | US Postal Service | +1h 53' 44" |
59 | Thierry Gouvenou (FRA) | Big Mat-Auber | +1h 55' 20" |
60 | Roberto Conti (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | +1h 55' 33" |
61 | Laurent Desbiens (FRA) | Cofidis | +1h 56' 28" |
62 | Erik Zabel (GER) | Telekom | +1h 56' 57" |
63 | Leon van Bon (NED) | Rabobank | +1h 57' 30" |
64 | Paul Van Hyfte (BEL) | Lotto | +1h 58' 02" |
65 | Jacky Durand (FRA) | Casino | +1h 59' 42" |
66 | Christophe Mengin (FRA) | Française des Jeux | +2h 00' 35" |
67 | Frédérick Guesdon (FRA) | Française des Jeux | +2h 05' 08" |
68 | Wilfried Peeters (BEL) | Mapei | +2h 06' 16" |
69 | Rik Verbrugghe (BEL) | Lotto | +2h 06' 17" |
70 | Magnus Bäckstedt (SWE) | Gan | +2h 08' 30" |
71 | Eddy Mazzoleni (ITA) | Saeco | +2h 10' 19" |
72 | Fabiano Fontanelli (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | +2h 11' 37" |
73 | Stefano Zanini (ITA) | Mapei | +2h 12' 11" |
74 | Alain Turicchia (ITA) | Asics-CGA | +2h 14' 12" |
75 | Mirko Crepaldi (ITA) | Polti | +2h 15' 05" |
76 | Diego Ferrari (ITA) | Asics-CGA | +2h 15' 46" |
77 | Xavier Jan (FRA) | Française des Jeux | +2h 15' 51" |
78 | Pascal Lino (FRA) | Big Mat-Auber | +2h 16' 13" |
79 | Fabio Roscioli (ITA) | Asics-CGA | +2h 17' 53" |
80 | Christian Henn (GER) | Telekom | +2h 19' 52" |
81 | Vjatjeslav Djavanian (RUS) | Big Mat-Auber | +2h 21' 31" |
82 | Rossano Brasi (ITA) | Polti | +2h 22' 10" |
83 | Jens Voigt (GER) | Gan | +2h 25' 14" |
84 | Pascal Deramé (FRA) | US Postal Service | +2h 26' 25" |
85 | Tom Steels (BEL) | Mapei | +2h 26' 30" |
86 | Eros Poli (ITA) | Gan | +2h 31' 56" |
87 | Alexei Sivakov (RUS) | Big Mat-Auber | +2h 33' 19" |
88 | Aart Vierhouten (NED) | Rabobank | +2h 35' 06" |
89 | Robbie McEwen (AUS) | Rabobank | +2h 36' 32" |
90 | Paolo Fornaciari (ITA) | Saeco | +2h 37' 50" |
91 | Massimiliano Mori (ITA) | Saeco | +2h 38' 12" |
92 | Bart Leysen (BEL) | Mapei | +2h 39' 43" |
93 | Francesco Frattini (ITA) | Telekom | +2h 43' 16" |
94 | Franck Bouyer (FRA) | Française des Jeux | +2h 43' 45" |
95 | Mario Traversoni (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | +2h 44' 42" |
96 | Damien Nazon (FRA) | Française des Jeux | +3h 12' 15" |
Points classification
Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Erik Zabel (GER) | Telekom | 327 |
2 | Stuart O'Grady (AUS) | Gan | 230 |
3 | Tom Steels (BEL) | Mapei | 221 |
4 | Robbie McEwen (AUS) | Rabobank | 196 |
5 | George Hincapie (USA) | US Postal Service | 151 |
6 | François Simon (FRA) | Gan | 149 |
7 | Bobby Julich (USA) | Cofidis | 114 |
8 | Jacky Durand (FRA) | Casino | 111 |
9 | Alain Turicchia (ITA) | Asics-CGA | 99 |
10 | Marco Pantani (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | 90 |
Mountains classification
Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Christophe Rinero (FRA) | Cofidis | 200 |
2 | Marco Pantani (ITA) | Mercatone Uno | 175 |
3 | Alberto Elli (ITA) | Casino | 165 |
4 | Cédric Vasseur (FRA) | Gan | 156 |
5 | Stéphane Heulot (FRA) | Française des Jeux | 152 |
6 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Telekom | 126 |
7 | Bobby Julich (USA) | Cofidis | 98 |
8 | Michael Boogerd (NED) | Rabobank | 92 |
9 | Leonardo Piepoli (SUI) | Saeco | 90 |
10 | Roland Meier (SUI) | Cofidis | 89 |
Team classification
Rank | Team | Time |
---|---|---|
1 | Cofidis | 278h 29' 58" |
2 | Casino–Ag2r | +29' 09" |
3 | U.S. Postal Service | +41' 40" |
4 | Team Telekom | +46' 01" |
5 | Lotto–Mobistar | +1h 04' 14" |
6 | Team Polti | +1h 06' 32" |
7 | Rabobank | +1h 46' 20" |
8 | Mapei–Bricobi | +1h 59' 53" |
9 | BigMat–Auber 93 | +2h 03' 32" |
10 | Mercatone Uno–Bianchi | +2h 23' 04" |
Young rider classification
Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Telekom | 92h 53' 07" |
2 | Christophe Rinero (FRA) | Cofidis | +5' 55" |
3 | Giuseppe Di Grande (ITA) | Mapei | +14' 14" |
4 | Kevin Livingston (USA) | Cofidis | +30' 42" |
5 | Jörg Jaksche (GER) | Polti | +32' 20" |
Combativity classification
Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jacky Durand (FRA) | Casino | 94 |
2 | Andrea Tafi (ITA) | Mapei | 51 |
3 | Stéphane Heulot (FRA) | Française des Jeux | 49 |
Doping
1998 marks the year cycling was fundamentally shattered by doping revelations. Paradoxically no riders were caught doping positive by any of the ordinary doping controls in place at the time. Nevertheless, several police searches and interrogations, managed to prove existence of organized doping at the two teams Festina and TVM, who consequently had to withdraw from the race. After stage 16, the police also forced the virtual mountain jersey holder Rodolfo Massi to leave the race, due to having found illegal corticosteroids in his hotel room. The intensive police work, then led to a peloton strike at stage 17, with a fallout of four Spanish teams and one Italian team deciding to leave the race in protest.
Many years later, retrospective tests and rider confessions confirmed the common suspicion, that consumption of EPO had not been limited to those being caught by the police, but in fact was something the majority of the peloton had used, at this point of time.
Police investigations and arrests
Three days ahead of the Tour start, the masseur of Team Festina, Willy Voet, was found at the Belgian border to have his car full of large quantities of syringes and controlled substances, including narcotics, erythropoietin (EPO), growth hormones, testosterone and amphetamines.[16] When raiding the Festina headquarters in France, the police also found a document with systematic drug programmes for the Festina riders.[17] As the Tour had started in Ireland, the French police waited to the first stage in France before arresting the Festina Team's directeur sportif and doctor: Bruno Roussel and Eric Rijckaert.[18] Faced by the evidence, Roussel and Rijckaert soon confessed, leading to all nine Festina riders (incl. notable riders such as 1997 runner-up Richard Virenque, Alex Zülle and Christophe Moreau), being forced to withdraw after stage 6.[19][20][21]
At the first rest day, after stage 11, the Festina affair got extended, with several other teams being searched by the police, and a second police investigation leading to long interrogations of TVM riders and imprisonment of the three TVM staffs: Cees Priem (manager), Andrei Mikhailov (doctor) and Jan Moors (soigneur). As a reaction to the treatment by the French police, the peloton staged a solidarity sit-down protest both during stage 12 and stage 17. The Tour directors later nullified the results of stage 17, as the peloton in a gesture had let all TVM-riders pass the finish line a couple of seconds ahead of the peloton. All four Spanish teams (ONCE, Banesto, Vitalicio Seguros, Kelme) and one Italian team (Riso Scotti) even decided to pull out of the race, at the urging of the ONCE team, led by the French National Champion Laurent Jalabert. After the stage, the police due to a suspicion of organized doping also at other teams, decided to search their hotels and arrested rider Rodolfo Massi (Casino) and the two team managers Marc Madiot (Française des Jeux) and Vincent Lavenu (Casino). Massi was at this point of time nr.7 in the GC and wearing the mountain jersey, but had to leave the race due to the police finding illegal corticosteroids in his hotel room.[22] He was also charged by the police for having sold EPO and other medicines to some riders in the peloton, as Voet had named him as one of his "business relationships",[23] but this criminal charge was later dropped - due to no additional proof found by police.[24] The Italian Olympic Committee subsequently only banned him six months for doping possession.[25]
After stage 17, all the six remaining TVM-riders in the race were escorted by the police to the nearest hospital, for submission of samples to an extra judicial ordered doping control. One day later, the TVM team decided also collectively to withdraw from the race, and thus became the final 7th team to withdraw.
Festina riders tested by police
According to the doping test analysis result for the nine Festina riders, with samples withdrawn by police on 23 July 1998, the following doping substances had been detected:[24][26]
- Richard Virenque (EPO).
- Alex Zülle (EPO).
- Laurent Dufaux (EPO).
- Armin Meier (EPO).
- Neil Stephens (EPO).
- Pascal Hervé (EPO and amphetamines).
- Laurent Brochard (EPO and amphetamines).
- Didier Rous (EPO and amphetamines).
- Christophe Moreau (EPO* and amphetamines) *NB: His EPO-test was inconclusive, but he admitted also using EPO.
Not all of the nine Festina-riders immediately confessed. While the first seven riders all opted to admit using performance-enhancing drugs when confronted with their positive test results in November 1998, the last two riders Virenque and Herve continued to maintain their innocence, until they in October 2000 finally admitted during the final court proceedings.[27][28][29] All positive riders were punished with a half-year suspension, except Neil Stephens, who escaped a sanction by choosing to retire.
TVM riders tested by police
In the TVM investigation, the police did not limit the extra doping test for samples withdrawn 29 July of the six remaining TVM-riders in the race (Jeroen Blijlevens, Bart Voskamp, Servais Knaven, Steven De Jongh, Serguei Outschakov and Sergei Ivanov). On 20 August 1998 they also called in these seven riders for interrogation and submission of samples for additional doping control: Michel Lafis, Tristan Hoffman, Hendrik Van Dijck, Peter Van Petegem, Laurent Roux, Johan Capiot and Lars Michaelsen. As one of these riders, it was either Capiot or Michaelsen, refused to submit samples, the total number of tested TVM riders was 12. In May 2001, during the final court hearing in the TVM trial, the medical expert witnesses stated, that from this tested group the test results had proofed, that the following six were "very likely" to have injected the specified doping substances:[30][31][32]
- Jeroen Blijlevens (EPO and corticosteroids).
- Bart Voskamp (EPO and corticosteroids).
- Serguei Outschakov (EPO and corticosteroids).
- Servais Knaven (EPO).
- Laurent Roux (amphetamines, corticosteroids and cannabis).
- Tristan Hoffman (amphetamines). *NB: Did not race in the 1998 Tour de France.
All of the six riders testing positive, refused in court ever to have used doping. The court however found sufficient amount of evidence had been presented (104 EPO vials seized from a TVM-car in March 1998, syringes with EPO remainings found in dustbins located in TVM rented hotel rooms during the Tour de France, as well as other doping products seized from TVM's Tour bus), to conclude that organized doping at the TVM team was conducted in the preparation and during the 1998 Tour de France. Consequently, the court handed out suspended sentences from 6–18 months to the team's manager, sports director and soigneur.[33] For unknown reasons, none of the six positive riders had their cases evaluated by a sports court, and thus none of them ever received suspensions for their positive tests.
Later confessions of the nine TVM-riders in the 1998 Tour de France:
- Laurent Roux subsequently also tested positive for amphetamines twice, in April 1999 and April 2002, and for the second offence he got a four-year suspension. In June 2006 he confessed at a doping trial in Bordeaux, that while being suspended he had both consumed and sold the drug known in the peloton as "pot Belge" (a mixture of amphetamines, caffeine, and cocaine/heroin), and he also confessed, that throughout his active career from 1994-2002 he had used EPO, human growth hormone, cortisone and testosterone.[34]
- Steven de Jongh, admitted using EPO "on a few occasions" in 1998-2000. When UCI introduced the EPO-test in April 2001, he decided to compete clean in the rest of his career.[35]
- Jeroen Blijlevens confessed in 2013, after the publication of results from a retrospective EPO-test, to have used this drug in the 1997 and 1998 edition of the Tour.[36]
Retrospective EPO test
At the time of the race there was no official test for EPO. In 2004, 60 remaining antidoping samples given by riders during the 1998 Tour, were tested retrospectively for recombinant EPO by using three recently developed detection methods. More precisely the laboratory compared the result of test method A: "Autoradiography - visual inspection of light emitted from a strip displaying the isoelectric profile for EPO" (published in the Nature journal as the first EPO detection method in June 2000[37]), with the result of test method B: "Percentage of basic isoforms - using an ultra-sensitive camera that by percentage quantify the light intensity emitted from each of the isoelectric bands" (pioneered at the Olympics in September 2000, with values above 80% classified as positive, but the laboratory applying an 85% threshold for retrospective samples - to be absolutely certain that no false-positives can occur when analyzing on samples stored for multiple years). For those samples with enough urine left, these results of test method A+B were finally also compared with the best and latest test method C: "Statistical discriminant analysis - taking account all the band profiles by statistical distinguish calculations for each band" (which feature both higher sensitivity and accuracy compared to test method B[38]).[6]
The results of test method A applied retrospectively in 2004, were published to have returned 44 positives and 9 negatives, while the last 7 samples did not return any readable results due to sample degradation. At first, the rider names with a positive sample were not made public, as it had only been conducted as scientific research.[4] In July 2013, the antidoping committee of the French Senate however decided it would benefit the current doping fight to shed full light on the past, and so decided - as part of their "Commission of Inquiry into the effectiveness of the fight against doping" report - to publish all sample IDs along with the result of the retrospective test. This publication revealed, that the 9 negative samples belonged to 5 riders, of which 2 have admitted to have used EPO before or during the 1998 Tour de France (George Hincapie[39] and Stuart O'Grady[40]), while the 44 positive samples belonged to 33 riders - including race winner Marco Pantani, runner-up Jan Ullrich, third on the podium Bobby Julich, and points-competition winner Erik Zabel.[5][6]
Note: Positive samples marked with a *, were only analyzed by the visual inspection test "autoradiography" (referred to as "test method A"), and not by one of the later WADA approved EPO detection test methods (referred to as test method B and C).[6] Some press sources consequently decided to label those samples only as "suspicious", rather than "positive".[5] |
Note: Despite submitting negative samples, both George Hincapie and Stuart O'Grady recently confessed also having used EPO before/during the 1998 Tour de France.[39][40] |
Prior of the published retrospective test, the following riders had already admitted using EPO in preparation/during the 1998 Tour:
- Bobby Julich admitted "to use EPO several times from August 1996 until July 1998".[7]
- Michael Boogerd confessed using cortisone, EPO and blood doping throughout 1997-2007.[41]
- George Hincapie, who tested negative twice, confessed never-the-less in his affidavit to the USADA that he used EPO and other doping substances throughout 1996-2006 (incl. blood doping throughout 2001-2005), and made this specific statement about his doping use in the 1998 Tour de France: "During the Tour that year I recall using testosterone pills and hGH to recover after stages of the race and using EPO."[39]
After the release of the retrospective test report, the following riders also admitted using EPO in preparation/during the 1998 Tour:
- Erik Zabel admitted having doped with cortisone, "magic potion" (caffeine+Persantine+Alupent), painkillers and EPO, throughout 1996-2002. In 2003 he used the same doping substances, but replaced EPO with autologous blood doping ahead of the Tour de France. For the years 2004-2005, he wanted to race clean and did not take any doping substances, except for the "magic potion", which he claim at that point of time not knowing the exact content of. After changing team from Telekom to Milram, he always competed entirely clean in the remaining part of his career, stretching from 2006-08. Explicitly about his EPO abuse in the Tour de France, he explained he abused it both during the Tour and in the 2-3 week preparation phase ahead, in 1997 and 1998. For the years in 1996 and 1999-2002 his EPO abuse did not happen during the race, but was limited to the 2-3 week preparation phase ahead of the Tour. When he blood doped in 2003, this also took place shortly ahead of the Tour start, and not during the race.[42]
- Stuart O'Grady admitted using EPO during 2 weeks ahead of the Tour de France 1998 prologue, but claimed never using it again after the Festina affair.[40]
- Jacky Durand admitted using EPO in July 1998, and pointed out that doping back then was a standard practice among all riders in the peloton.[43]
- Jeroen Blijlevens admitted he started to use EPO in Tour De France 1997, and continued to use the drug in Tour De France 1998.[36]
- Laurent Jalabert's lawyer released this statement on behalf of the rider: "...he followed the prescriptions of the medical staff at his successive teams. Although no element of law has been officially notified to him, Laurent Jalabert today assumes responsibility for it and bears the consequences. He regrets that through the excesses of a past period, the image of contemporary cycling and that of the Tour de France have again been besmirched when he has always worked to promote them."[44]
When combining the EPO abuse confessions of the two riders testing negative with all the positive test results, it was indicated that 35 out of the 38 retrospectively tested riders (92%) had been using EPO in the 1998 Tour de France. A number, which came on top of the additional 9 out of 9 Festina riders and 2 out of 9 TVM riders, who already had confessed EPO abuse due to their implication in the prior police investigations.
Additional doping confessions
Among the riders who were never tested for EPO abuse, the following never-the-less later on confessed also having doped with EPO in preparation/during the 1998 Tour de France:
- Jörg Jaksche (Polti), who competed six times in the Tour (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005), confessed using EPO in 1997-2004[45][46] and then blood doping in 2005-2006.[47] Through his career he only raced the Tour de France without being doped one time, and this was in 1999 where he finished as nr.80 in the overall.[46] For the 1998 Tour he confessed, that his Polti team had stored cooled EPO vials inside a vacuum cleaner in the team bus, and beside of injecting himself daily with growth hormones and insulin, he also during the first 10–12 days of the Tour injected himself with 2000 EPO units every second day. He explained, that due to the many police raids, it was too dangerous to continue doping during the second half of the 1998 Tour.[45]
- Luc Leblanc (Polti), the 1994 world champion, admitted to the court in the Festina trial (after having retired in 1999), that he had used EPO to prepare for the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Spanish Vuelta throughout 1994-1998.[48] He claimed the reason he started to use EPO in 1994, while riding at the Festina team, was because he achieved a clean 5th place in the 1991 Tour de France, and then for the subsequent two years suddenly found he could not keep up with the pace of the peloton without. "It is true, but I could have taken a lot more to win these races", said Leblanc. He was riding for Team Polti in the 1998 Tour, where he opted to abandon the race in sympathy with the Festina riders. Despite confessing to doping use when riding all the Grand Tours, he insisted to have won the Rainbow Jersey in 1994 without any help of illegal substances.[49][50]
- Bjarne Riis (Telekom), confessed he started doping with corticosteroids in the 80s,[51][52] and that he used a package of EPO, growth hormones and corticosteroids throughout his six seasons from 1993-98.[52][53] After receiving a tip during the 1998 Tour de France, that his Telekom team would be searched by police as part of the probe into the Festina doping scandal, Riis stated: “In my room I didn’t have a choice. My vials of doping products had to disappear quickly. In just a few minutes I gathered all my doses of EPO and threw them down the toilet”. This was the last time he doped, and he retired as a rider in June 1999.[52][54]
- Rolf Aldag (Telekom), confessed using EPO throughout four seasons from 1995-98. Claim he never used EPO again after the Festina affair in July 1998.[55][56] In 2002 he got tempted to begin again, and bought some EPO over the Internet from the Netherlands. But when he received the package it was of so low quality, that he decided it was too dangerous and trashed it - along with the thought of ever doping again.[56][57][58]
- Christian Henn (Telekom), confessed using EPO throughout his last five seasons from 1995–99,[59] and according to the Freiburg report began with testosterone doping in 1987.[60]
Riders in the top 10 of the final general classification, accused of doping
Chris Boardman was the only rider to wear the yellow jersey in 1998 who has not been accused of doping.[61] Of the top ten riders to finish the 1998 Tour, eight were later accused or convicted of doping:
Rank | Name | Team | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marco Pantani | Mercatone Uno | 92h 49' 46" | Retrospectively tested positive for EPO use in July 1998.[5][6] In the 1999 Giro d'Italia, while wearing the leader jersey, he was forced to take a two-week break from racing due to a hematocrit value above 50%.[62] Died of cocaine overdose in 2004. |
2 | Jan Ullrich | Telekom | +3' 21" | Retrospectively tested positive for EPO use in July 1998.[5][6] Implicated in the Telekom affair, where Jef d'Hont named him as one of the riders he injected with EPO in 1996.[60][63] Involved in Operación Puerto, where he in 2011 was suspended two years, for using blood doping throughout 1 May 2005 until his last active day in June 2006.[64] Admitted in 2013, to have used blood doping from 1 May 2005 until June 2006.[65] |
3 | Bobby Julich | Cofidis | +4' 08" | Retrospectively tested positive for EPO use in July 1998.[5][6] Accused by teammate Philippe Gaumont in the book Prisonnier du dopage, for using EPO and growth hormones as preparation ahead of the 1998 Tour.[66][67] Admitted in 2012, to have used EPO several times from August 1996 until July 1998.[7][68] |
4 | Christophe Rinero | Cofidis | +9' 16" | Accused by teammate Philippe Gaumont in the book Prisonnier du dopage, for using EPO and growth hormones as preparation ahead of the 1998 Tour.[66][67] |
5 | Michael Boogerd | Rabobank | +11' 26" | Retrospectively tested positive for EPO use in July 1998.[5][6] Accused by Floyd Landis of blood doping in 2003.[69] Involved in the Humanplasma affair around 2006-2007.[70][71] After ending his career, he admitted a previous use of cortisone at a talkshow in 2008.[72] Admitted in March 2013, that he used cortisone, EPO and blood doping throughout 1997-2007.[41] |
6 | Jean-Cyril Robin | US Postal | +14' 57" | |
7 | Roland Meier | Cofidis | +15' 13" |
Retrospectively tested positive for EPO use in July 1998.[5][6] |
8 | Daniele Nardello | Mapei | +16' 07" | |
9 | Giuseppe Di Grande | Mapei | +17' 35" | Caught in the "San Remo raid" (June 2001) for using growth hormone and insulin, and by the same event sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.[74][75] |
10 | Axel Merckx | Polti | +17' 39" | Retrospectively tested positive for EPO use in July 1998.[5][6] Named in the Giardini Margherita criminal investigation (August 1998),[76] as an EPO-receiving client of the doping doctor Michele Ferrari.[77] |
See also
References
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- ↑ "Irish start for Tour de France: Cycling". Independent. 3 April 1997. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ↑ "1998 Tour de France Map". Sports Illustrated. 10 July 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- 1 2 "1998 plane sur le centième Tour de France [1998 flat on the hundredth Tour de France]" (in French). Dernière Heure. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Cipollini, Livingston among 1998 Tour riders positive for EPO". VeloNews. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Rapport Fait au nom de la commission d’enquête sur l’efficacité de la lutte contre le dopage (Annexe 6: Résultats test EPO Tour De France 1998 et 1999)" (PDF). N° 782, Sénat Session Extraordinaire de 2012-2013 (in French). French Senate. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
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- ↑ "Pirate takes yellow treasure". BBC Sport. 2 August 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "85ème Tour de France 1998" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ↑ "News for October 26, 1997: Team Selection Criteria for the Tour de France 1998". Cyclingnews. Future Publishing Limited. 26 October 1997. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ↑ "News for February 6, 1998: Tour 1998". Cyclingnews. Future Publishing Limited. 6 February 1998. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- 1 2 "News for June 19, 1998: In the Tour de France". Cyclingnews. Future Publishing Limited. 19 June 1998. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ↑ Zwegers, Arian. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 15 Aug 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 Christian, Sarah (2 July 2009). "Tour de France demystified - Evaluating success". RoadCycling.co.nz Ltd. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ↑ Chauner, David; Halstead, Michael (1990). The Tour de France Complete Book of Cycling. Villard. ISBN 0679729364. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ↑ "Drug Scandal at the Tour". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ↑ "stage two". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
- ↑ "Stage 4 report". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ↑ "Out of the race-Festina team expelled from tour in drug scandal". Sports illustrated. 17 July 1998. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ↑ "Festina out of Tour". Cyclingnews.com. 18 July 1998. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ↑ "Stage 7 Brief". Cyclingnews.com. 18 July 1998. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ↑ Davis, Justin (3 July 2008). "Ten Years Later, Festina Doping Affair Still Not Forgotten". bicycle.net. Bicycle. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ Lieshout, Marcel van (3 August 1998). "Een Tour die voortleeft als de ronde van de dopingschandalen" (in Dutch). Volkskrant. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- 1 2 "'Festina Affair': A timeline". BBC Sport. 24 October 2000. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ "Cycling News and Analysis - News for November 4, 1998: Drugs Update". Cyclingnews. 4 November 1998. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ Jean-Pierre Mondenard, Dictionnaire du dopage, Masson-Paris, 2004, ISBN 2-294-00714-X, p.485
- ↑ "L’AVEU Richard Virenque a fini par admettre s’être dopé. Luc Leblanc lui a emboîté le pas". Humanite.fr. 25 October 2000. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ↑ "Festina – Pascal Hervé: "Oui je me suis dopé"". Cyclisme-dopage.com. 25 October 2000. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ↑ "Le procès Festina change de braquet" (in French). Nouvel Observateur. 25 October 2000. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ↑ "Verdediger TVM-ploeg heeft voor alles een verklaring" (in Dutch). Volkskrant.nl. 29 May 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ↑ "Geldigheid van epo-test is cruciaal" (in Dutch). Trouw.nl. 29 May 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- ↑ "TVM'ers positief in Tour '98" (in Dutch). NRC.nl. 29 May 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- ↑ "TVM bosses punished for doping". BBC Sport. 17 July 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ↑ "Cycling: Roux admits drug use and dealing". www.iht.com. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
- ↑ "De Jongh speaks about turning to doping in letter of admission". VeloNation. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- 1 2 "Lees hier de volledige verklaring van Jeroen Blijlevens [Read the full statement here of Jeroen Blijlevens ]" (in Dutch). Trouw.nl. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ↑ Françoise Lasne & Jacques de Ceaurriz (8 June 2000). "Recombinant erythropoietin in urine". Nature 405, p.635 (8 June 2000). Nature journal. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ↑ Françoise Lasne; et al. (13 June 2006). "Detection of recombinant human erythropoietin in urine for doping analysis - Interpretation of isoelectric profiles by discriminant analysis" (PDF). Electrophoresis 2007, 28, p.1875–1881. Electrophoresis. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Affidavit of George Hincapie" (PDF). USADA. p. 6.
- 1 2 3 "Stuart O'Grady admits to doping before 1998 Tour de France". The Guardian. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- 1 2 "Boogerd gives detailed confession about doping to Dutch media". Velonation. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ↑ "Erik Zabel im SZ-Interview "Meine Schuld wird mich immer begleiten"" (in German). Sueddeutsche Zeitung. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ↑ "Durand admits name will be on French Senate list of EPO positives". Cyclingnews. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ↑ "Jalabert acknowledges 1998 EPO positive but does not confess to doping". Cyclingnews. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- 1 2 "Jaksches Doping-Beichte (teil 1): "Skrupel gab es keine mehr"" (in German). Spiegel. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- 1 2 "Jaksches Doping-Beichte (teil 2):"Die Telekom-Mannschaftsleitung wusste alles"" (in German). Spiegel. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Jaksche-Beichte (teil 3): "Fuentes sprach von Doping wie vom Windelwechseln"" (in German). Spiegel. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Sports Illustrated article". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. 2000-10-24. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
- ↑ "Doping cases: Luc Leblanc". Cycling4fans.de. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ "CyclingNews, 25 October 2000". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. 2001-02-01. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
- ↑ "Bjarne Riis: Jeg tror, Contador bliver frikendt. Jeg tror på hans uskyld" (in Danish). Politiken. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- 1 2 3 Riis, Bjarne (November 2010). Pedersen, Lars Steen, ed. Riis – Stages of Light and Dark. (English edition translated by Ellis Bacon, published in 2012). p. 500. ISBN 978-1-907637-51-3.
- ↑ "Riis confesses to doping offences". BBC News. 2007-05-25. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Bjarne Riis discusses doping past in new autobiography". VeloNews (written by AFP). 8 November 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Bodsgangen fortsætter hos Team Telekom" (in Danish). Berlingske. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- 1 2 "Doping Geständnis-Rolf Aldag (press conference video)" (in German). TV Berlin. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "First Edition Cycling News for May 25, 2007: T-Mobile to continue sponsorship despite doping admissions". Cyclingnews. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Rolf Aldags Gestaendnis im Wortlaut". (citations from Rolf Aldags press conference) (in German). Die Welt. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Die Zeit war so. Da musste man mitziehen" (in German). Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- 1 2 "Appendix N to USADA’s Reasoned Decision Overview of Evidence in the Freiburg University Clinic Doping Investigation" (PDF). USADA. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ↑ "Tour de France - Tests show Pantani and Ullrich used EPO during 1998 Tour". Eurosport. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ↑ "Pantani: Future 'in doubt'". BBC. 5 June 1999. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ↑ "Report: Masseur Gave Ullrich EPO Shot". Washington Post (The Associated Press). 27 May 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ↑ "Jan Ullrich given two year ban from CAS". Cyclingnews (Future Publishing limited). 9 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ↑ "Doping confession of the ex-professional cyclist Jan Ullrich: "I wanted to ensure equal opportunities"" (in German). Focus. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- 1 2 Philippe Gaumont (2 June 2005). Bernard Grasset, ed. Prisonnier du dopage (in French). Paris. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-2-2466-8431-2.
- 1 2 David Walsh (26 June 2007). "From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France". page 103.
- ↑ "Julich leaves Team Sky". Team Sky Pro Cycling. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ↑ "Michael Boogerd responds to Floyd Landis accusations". Velonation (velonation). 1 February 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ "Rabobank tolerated doping on cycling team, De Rooy claims". Cyclingnews. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ "Boogerd betaalde bijna 17.000 euro aan dopingdealer" (in Dutch). NRC.nl. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- ↑ "Ter Zake". Sporza (VRT). July 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ "Roland Meier positive too". Cycling News. 16 May 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ "Frigo among six found guilty". BikeRadar. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ "Doping cases for rider names starting with D and E" (in German). Cycling4Fans.de.
- ↑ "Gotti e Cipollini nella lista nera del ciclismo". Corriere della Sera. 5 January 2000. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ "Ein Fleck auf Lance Armstrongs Gelbem Trikot". Die Welt. 25 July 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
External links
- Official website
- 1998 Tour de France results
- 1998 Tour de France History
- Complete results and details at Cycling News
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