French cycling star admits to taking drugs

French cycling star admits to taking drugs

LILLE (France), OCTOBER 24: French cycling star Richard Virenque stunned a court here on Tuesday when he admitted for the first time that he had taken banned drugs to improve his performances.

The admission was a sharp about-turn for the 30-year-old Virenque, after he insisted on the trial's opening day yesterday in this northern France city that he had never knowingly taken drugs.

But then came damning testimony from two former officials of the Festina team he rode for who said it was Virenque who had asked to be given the drugs and he was fully aware they were illegal.

Virenque's lawyer Eric Hemmerdinger then requested that his client be allowed to give further evidence at the opening of today's session.

The trial against 10 defendants is the culmination of two years of accusations and counter-accusations in France over drug-taking among professional cyclists that has shaken the sport to its foundations.

The defendants are charged with various offences connected with encouraging and facilitating the use of illegal drugs in sporting competitions. Most of the defendants face jail terms if found guilty.

The scandal has become known as the ``Festina Affair'' after the Andorran-registered watchmaking company which sponsored the Franco-Spanish team taking part in the Tour de France race two years ago when the scandal broke.

Festina's masseur Willy Voet was stopped on the Franco-Belgian border on his way to the race in possession of hundreds of bottles of doping products, triggering a massive investigation that almost caused the Tour to be abandoned.

Virenque, five times the winner of the King of the Mountains climbing title at the Tour de France, had until today maintained his innocence saying he had never knowingly taken doping products nor incited teammates to do so.

Investigating Judge Patrick Keil had insisted the formerteam leader with `moral authority' over the other Festina riders should appear in court to answer the charges.

Virenque, the 30-year-old Moroccan-born son of a French army officer, was appearing along with five former members of the Festina training staff, including then Sports director Bruno Roussel, 43, and Voet, 54, formerly the team masseur.

Chemist Christine Paranier and her husband Eric, accused of supplying Festina with illegal products, were also in court.

The ramifications of the doping scandal have led the sport's world governing body UCI to work on much tougher testing but cycling's image has struggled ever since to throw off its tarnished image despite its efforts.