It was the biggest doping scandal in cycling history to date: the Festina affair at the 1998 Tour de France. Two days before the start of the tour, on 8 July 1998, police officers found numerous doping substances in the vehicle of Festina supervisor Willy Voet during a border check: 236 ampoules of EPO, 82 packs of growth hormones, testosterone preparations, amphetamines and corticoids.
The team led by Richard Virenque and Alex Zülle was nevertheless initially allowed to take part in the Tour start in the Irish capital Dublin. But on 14 July, Voet confessed to having carried the doping substances on behalf of the team management. After that, everything happened in quick succession: arrest of Festina sports director Bruno Roussel, search of the team hotel and exclusion from the Tour by Tour boss Jean-Marie Leblanc before stage 7. The riders were even temporarily imprisoned. Most of them confessed.
The result: doping was suddenly a real issue in cycling - and the Festina affair was just the tip of the iceberg. An overview of how the nine riders from the Festina squad at the time have fared since then.
Richard Virenque
The Frenchman was the head of the Festina team and was at the centre of the media coverage at the time as a Tour co-favourite. Unlike his team-mates, however, Virenque tearfully protested his innocence. It was not until 2000 that he confessed to his doping abuse in the course of the criminal proceedings surrounding the Festina affair and was given a seven-month ban. For many of his compatriots, however, he remained a favourite. After his comeback, the now 55-year-old won his sixth and seventh mountain jersey at the Tour de France in 2003 and 2004 - a record to this day.
In 2024, he also carried the Olympic flame in the run-up to the Games in Paris. After his career, Virenque worked as a pundit for the French branch of the TV channel Eurosport until 2018. He also took part in several reality TV programmes and won a French version of the jungle camp. In 2014, he bought the cycling brand CKT and has - ironically - been a brand ambassador for Festina since 2012. Despite the doping offences, Virenque continues to enjoy great popularity in France.
Alex Zülle
In the 1990s, Zülle was considered one of the most popular athletes from Switzerland. After all, the now 56-year-old finished the Tour de France in second place in 1995 and won the Vuelta a Espana in 1996 and 1997. All the greater was the excitement in Switzerland that Zülle was also part of the Festina affair. He tearfully confessed to doping in a TV interview from a French prison. The Swiss rider was subsequently banned for eight months before finishing second again behind Lance Armstrong in the 1999 Tour.
However, his doping offences still haunt him to this day - even though he is often a guest at races in Switzerland. Zülle has retired from professional cycling and most recently worked as the manager of a fitness centre in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.
Laurent Brochard
The Frenchman's trademark was his ponytail. Another eye-catcher at the 1998 Tour de France: the rainbow jersey of the world champion, which Brochard won in 1997 at the race in San Sebastian. However, there were already initial accusations of doping at the time, as he tested positive for a narcotic after the World Championships, for which he was able to produce a certificate. However, team coach Willy Voet later described in his book "Massacre à la chaîne" that the certificate had only been issued afterwards.
In the course of the Festina affair, Brochard then confessed to taking doping substances and was banned for seven months. He then continued his career until 2007. He now organises the "La Sancy Arc-en-Ciel" cycling event for amateurs in the Puy-de-Dome region, which offers various gravel and road routes. In 2023, Brochard also won another world championship title: in gravel, in the 55 to 59 age group.
Laurent Dufaux
The Swiss rider was regarded as a mountain specialist and won high-calibre stage races such as the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de Romandie during his career. He also finished fourth in the 1996 Tour de France. However, as a result of the Festina affair, Dufaux also confessed to taking doping substances and was given a seven-month ban. On his comeback in 1999, Dufaux again finished fourth in the Tour de France.
After his career, the 55-year-old joined the textile company New Wave. He is still responsible for the business of the sportswear brand Craft in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and Ticino. From 2015 to 2018, Dufaux was also Head of Organisation for the Swiss cyclocross racing series EKZ CrossTour and from 2018 to 2020, he worked as Sports Director for the Continental team Akros.
Pascal Hervé
Like Richard Virenque, Hervé initially protested his innocence in 1998 before confessing to doping two years later during the criminal trial. As a result, Hervé was also banned for several months. The Frenchman then tested positive for EPO again at the 2001 Giro d'Italia and ended his career as a result.
The 60-year-old now lives in Montreal and has become a Canadian citizen. In 2022, he won the Canadian championship title in the Masters category in the 55 to 64 age group. He runs a training centre for amateur cyclists in Montreal and regularly organises cycling tours through France.
Armin Meier
After retiring in 2001, Meier made a name for himself in sports management. He managed various tasks for the International Management Group (IMG) in Switzerland for around ten years, including acting as race director of the Tour de Suisse for six years from 2004. He was also Managing Director of the sports marketing company Infront-Ringier before founding his own agency, Human Sports Management, in 2015, with which he markets mass sports events and looks after athletes. Meier's clients have included Fabian Cancellara. During his active career, the now 55-year-old won the Swiss Road Championships twice. After his confession in 1998, he received a six-month ban.
Christophe Moreau
For 16 years, Moreau was one of the most successful French professional cyclists, wearing yellow in the Tour de France and winning the national road title. In the wake of the Festina affair, Moreau received a six-month ban in 1998. After the end of his career in 2010, the Frenchman worked for several years as a pundit for the French branch of Eurosport and as a brand ambassador for the bike manufacturer Origine.
In his private life, however, Moreau has run into some difficulties in recent years: Following allegations of domestic violence and threats against his ex-wife, a former hostess at the Tour de France, he was arrested in Switzerland in January 2023 and spent some time in custody. Moreau also went to rehab for alcohol and drug problems. As a result, he had to give up his job as manager of the French amateur team Philippe Wagner Cycling.
Didier Rous
Rous also confessed to the Festina affair and was banned for several months. The two-time French road champion and Tour de France stage winner had to give up his active career due to heart problems in 2007. He then held numerous positions as sporting director at the teams Bouygues Telecom (2009 to 2010), Cofidis (2011 to 2017) and Vital Concept-B&B Hotels (2018 to 2022). Since 2024, the 54-year-old has been Sports Director at Team Arkea-Samsic.
Neil Stephens
Like Rous, Stephens has remained involved in professional cycling to this day and has worked as a sports director for various teams since 2000. He started out with the Linda McCartney Racing Team (2000 to 2001) before working for Liberty Seguros (2005 to 2006) and Caisse d'Espargne (2008 to 2010). The Australian experienced his most formative period with Orica GreenEdge from 2012 to 2018. After two years at UAE Team Emirates, the 61-year-old has been one of the sporting directors at Bahrain-Victorious since 2021. As an active rider, he celebrated his greatest success with a stage win at the 1997 Tour de France. In the course of the Festina affair, Stephens argued that he had taken the doping substances in the knowledge that they were vitamin supplements. He was not banned, but ended his career at the end of 1998.
