Festina affair

The Festina affair was a series of doping scandals that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a car belonging to the Festina cycling team just before the start of the race. A resulting investigation revealed systematic doping, and suspicion was raised that there may have been a widespread network of doping involving many teams of the Tour de France. Hotels were searched by police, confessions were made by retired and current riders, and team personnel were arrested or detained. Several teams withdrew from the race.

By December 2000, all nine Festina riders had confessed to using erythropoietin (EPO) and other substances during the 1998 Tour de France, and suspended sentences ranging from 5–12 months were handed out to Festina soigneur Willy Voet, Festina manager Bruno Roussel, La Française des Jeux soigneur Jef d'Hont, former Festina soigneur Jean Dalibot, and Festina communication officer Joel Chabiron. The two accused pharmacists, Éric Paranier and Christine Paranier, along with ONCE team doctor Nicolás Terrados, were only given fines, while the case against Festina doctor Eric Rijckaert was dropped because of his deteriorating health.

On July 8, 1998, Festina soigneur Willy Voet was stopped by customs officers at the Belgian-French border close to Neuville-en-Ferrain near Lille in Northern France. Officers discovered several hundred grams and capsules of anabolic steroids, erythropoietin (EPO), syringes, and other doping products. Voet was taken into police custody. Festina offices were searched in Lyon and seized other suspect products, including perflourocarbon.

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