Richard Virenque

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Richard Virenque

---

image_caption = Virenque during the 2004 Tour de France
fullname = Richard Virenque
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1969|11|19
country = FRA
height = 1m79
weight = 65kg
currentteam =
discipline = Road
role = Retired
ridertype = Climber
proyears = 1991–1992
1993–1998
1999–2000;
2001–2002
2003–2004
proteams = R.M.O. Festina
Polti
Domo-Farm Frites
Quick Step-Davitamon
majorwins = 7 X King of the Mountains competition Tour de France
Paris-Tours (2001)
updated = March 28, 2008

Richard Virenque (born November 191969 in Casablanca, Morocco) is a retired French professional road racing cyclist. He is known as a climbing specialist and for his role in a highly-publicized doping scandal.

Early career

Virenque turned professional in 1991 and became very successful in the Tour de France when he wore the maillot jaune in 1992. From 1993 to 1998, he was in the Festina cycling team. His top placing in the general classification of the Tour de France and his multiple wins of the Polka dot jersey placed him at the top of the French hopefuls as a potential winner of the Tour de France.

Festina Affair

In 1998 the Festina cycling team was disgraced by a doping scandal (see Doping at the Tour de France) after health assistant Willy Voet was arrested with large quantities of prescription drugs and illegal drugs used for doping.

Virenque's teammates Christophe Moreau, Laurent Brochard and Armin Meier admitted taking EPO after being arrested during the 1998 Tour de France [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980725/ai_n14163112|title=Tour riders down wheels over drug use|publisher=London independent|accessdate=2007-07-28] and were subsequently ejected from the race. [cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/07/13/drugs.t.php|title=A hint of doping at Tour de France|publisher=Herald Tribune|accessdate=2007-07-19] Virenque maintained his innocence. While Virenque's former teammates were served six-month suspensions and returned to racing in spring of 1999 [cite web|url=http://www.humanite.fr/1998-12-15_Sports_CYCLISME-1|title=Dopage 2|publisher=Humanite|accessdate=2007-07-29] , Virenque changed teams to Team Polti and prepared for the 1999 Tour de France by riding the 1999 Giro d'Italia where he won a stage.

In 1999, Virenque released a book called "Ma Vérité." The book was written as a response to the accusations and an assertion of innocence [cite paper|title=Le dopage dans le cyclisme profesionnel:accusations, confessions et dénégations|author=Traval P and Duret P|publisher=STAPS|date=2003|id=60:59-74] and included comments of how doping must be fought. [cite web|url=http://www.humanite.fr/2000-10-25_Sports_-Tel-quel-Ce-que-Virenque-expliquait-deja-dans-son-livre|title=Tel quel Ce que Virenque expliquait deja dans son livre|publisher=Humanite.fr|accessdate=2007-12-31] Virenque also said in his book that his teammates confessed to using EPO due to pressure from the police saying that Moreau's urine samples had shown that he was innoncent of EPO use as EPO had not been detected. [cite web|url=http://cyclisme.dopage.free.fr/bibliographie/virenque_sa_verite.htm|title=Aveux et pression policière|publisher=Cyclisme Dopage free|accessdate=2007-12-31]

Around this time, Bruno Roussel, Virenque's directeur sportif at Festina from 1995 to the Festina affair, began to break his silence regarding the affair. 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?" [cite web|url=http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p19990708/articles/a19945-.html|title=Virenque"Je cours pour ceux qui m'aiment"|publisher=Obs.com|accessdate=2007-12-31] For the 1999 Tour de France, race director Jean-Marie Leblanc initially banned Virenque from contesting the event on moral grounds, only to have to re-instate Virenque. LeBlanc publicly stated that he hoped Virenque would not win the race. [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/15_19990711/ai_n14255564/pg_2|title=Cycling: The feted and hated one|accessdate=2007-12-31]

In October 2000, Richard Virenque went to trial as a witness with much of the former Festina team in Lille. After initially denying that he had doped himself, he confessed to having doped himself. [cite web|url=http://www.humanite.fr/2000-10-25_Sports_-L-AVEU-Richard-Virenque-a-fini-par-admettre-s-etre-dope-Luc|title=L’AVEU Richard Virenque a fini par admettre s’être dopé. Luc Leblanc lui a emboîté le pas|publisher=Humanite.fr|accessdate=2007-12-31]

Richard Virenque denied doping himself intentionally, while Willy Voet charged that he was perfectly conscious of what he was doing, and even participated in trafficking between professional cyclists. Virenque claimed that all this had happened, in his own words, without his approval. The satirical television programme, "Les Guignols de l'info" changed his words to "à l'insu de mon plein gré" ("of my own free will but without knowing"), and this phrase soon passed into French popular culture as a sign of hypocritical denial.Voet also wrote a book, "Massacre à la Chaîne", published in a legally-censored English edition as "Breaking the Chain", in which he clearly (although not fully) identified Richard Virenque as an unrepentant doper in full knowledge of his own abuses.

Virenque was highly criticized by the media and satirists for his stubborn denial in the face of increasing evidence and his pretense of having been doped without his knowledge. Later Voet was quoted in "L'Équipe" as saying he had preferred Virenque when he was an amateur "because he didn't dope himself much".

Post-suspension career

After serving a suspension, he eventually returned to the sport, winning the UCI Road World Cup race Paris-Tours in a day-long, apparently suicidal breakaway in which he finally dropped compatriot Jacky Durand and against all odds crossed the finish line just seconds ahead of the charging peloton.

While he was bettered by fellow Frenchmen Laurent Jalabert in the 2001 and 2002 editions of the Tour de France for the King of the Mountains competition, he won his sixth polka dot jersey in 2003 to tie the previous record of Federico Bahamontes and Lucien van Impe while riding for the new Quick Step-Davitamon team. His day-long breakaway also saw him wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

In the 2004 edition he again won the "King of the Mountains" competition as best climber, establishing a record of seven times. Belgian Lucien van Impe, having himself won the classification 6 times, publicly claimed that Virenque was disrespecting the previous record holder Bahamontes and himself, and that he himself gave up the chance to break Bahamontes' previous record out of respect for Bahamontes.

In the Tour de France, Virenque has also finished twice on the final podium (3rd in 1996 and 2nd in 1997) and won several stages, among them the legendary climb up to Mont Ventoux in 2002

He is the 18th rider in the Tour de France to have won stages over 10 years. The others were Jean Alavoine, Henri Pelissier, Philippe Thys, Louis Mottiat, André Leducq, Antonin Magne, René Vietto, Gino Bartali, André Darrigade, Jean Stablinski, Raymond Poulidor, Felice Gimondi, Gerben Karstens, Ferdinand Bracke, Joaquim Agostinho, Lucien van Impe and Lance Armstrong. The 19th rider to have done it is Cédric Vasseur.

Retirement

On September 24 2004, Richard Virenque announced his retirement from competitive cycling, but has stayed in the public eye, appearing on and winning "Je suis une célébrité, sortez-moi de là!" (the French version of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!") in April 2006. He also began selling jewellery featuring the number 7, representing his wins in the King of the Mountains competition.

Since 2005 he has been a consultant commentator for Eurosport, alongside Jacky Durand, Jean-François Bernard and the journalist, Patrick Chassé.

On 26 August 2006, Virenque was taken to hospital at Moûtiers and then transferred to Grenoble after falling during a timed mountain-bike race over six kilometres. He broke his nose and needed 32 stitches to cuts to his face.

On 8 January 2008, Virenque said he and his wife, Stéphanie, were to divorce.

Palmarès

*
* Seven mountain wins: 1994 Luz Ardiden; 1995 Cauterets; 1997 Courchevel; 2000, Morzine; 2002 Mont Ventoux; 2003, Morzine; 2004, Saint-Flour
* Paris-Tours 2001
* Trophée des grimpeurs: 1994
* Tour du Piémont: 1996
* Grand Prix "La Marseillaise": 1997
* Bol d'or des Monedières 1992
* Circuit de l'Aulne 1994
* Critérium de Castillon-la-Bataille 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004
* Stage win, Tour du Limousin en 1993
* Stage win, Giro d'Italia 1999
* 4 stages, Critérium du Dauphiné libéré: 1995 (2), 1996 (1), 1998 (1)
* Stage win, Route du Sud 1994
* Critèrium de Vayrac: 1996, 1997
* 2nd national road championship 2003; 3rd 1998
* 3rd world road championship 1994

Tour de France

* one day in yellow
*Tour de France 1993: 19th
* best climber
* best climber
* best climber
* best climber
*Tour de France 1998 : disqualified
* best climber
*Tour de France 2000 : 6th, one stage win
*Tour de France 2002 : 16th, one stage win
* best climber
* best climber

Giro d'Italia

* 1999 : 14th and one stage win

Teams

* 1991 - RMO
* 1992 - RMO
* 1993 - Festina - Lotus
* 1994 - Festina - Lotus
* 1995 - Festina - Lotus
* 1996 - Festina - Lotus
* 1997 - Festina - Lotus
* 1998 - Festina - Lotus
* 1999 - Team Polti
* 2000 - Team Polti
* 2001 - Domo - Farm Frites
* 2002 - Domo - Farm Frites
* 2003 - Quick-Step - Davitamon
* 2004 - Quick-Step - Davitamon

Books

*"Ma Vérité" 1999 Éditions du Rocher, with C. Eclimont and Guy Caput.
*"Plus fort qu'avant" 2002 Robert Laffont, with Jean-Paul Vespini.
*"Richard Virenque Coeur de Grimpeur Mes Plus Belles Etapes" 2006 Privat, with Patrick Louis

References

ee also

* List of doping cases in cycling
*List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

External links

* [http://www.abelard.org/france/le-tour5-pyrenees.php Richard Virenque on the Tour de France 2004] exclusive photo of Richard with Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich
* [http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/archives/jul96/ogmrr1.html 1996 Olympic Road Race Results]