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Facing charges French cyclists to face doping charges in October
Posted: Friday April 28, 2000 06:19 PM
PARIS (AP) -- French cyclist Richard Virenque and nine others will appear before a French court in October in connection with the Festina team doping scandal that rocked the Tour de France two years ago. Virenque's lawyer, Eric Hemmerdinger told The Associated Press on Friday that he received official notification of the summons from judge Patrick Keil this week. The trial will be held in the magistrate's court in the northern French city of Lille, he said. It will start in the second half of October and last two or three weeks. Hemmerdinger said the judge had decided that as his client was head of the team, he had a "moral authority" over the other riders and so should be tried. He has been charged with complicity to supply, incite the use of and administer drugs and complicity to import, hold, offer, carry and buy poisonous substances. The nine others include Willy Voet, the team physiotherapist, who was caught with a stash of anabolic steroids and erythropoietin (EPO) in a Festina team car in July 1998. Also in court will be Eric Ryckaert, another team doctor, and Bruno Roussel, the former sports director. Virenque, once France's most popular cyclist, and the rest of the Festina team were kicked out of the 1998 Tour after team officials admitted to systematic doping within the camp. Most of his teammates owned up. Virenque, insisting he had never knowingly taken banned substances, became an increasingly isolated figure, shunned by fellow cyclists. He now races for the Italian Polti team and is still revered by many French cycling fans.
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