Richard virusesque

Virusque at the 2004 tour prologue

Richard virusesque (1993)

Richardirusesque (born November 19, 1969 in Casablanca , Morocco ) is a former French cyclist . The mountain specialist won the Tour de France dotted jersey seven times , making it the record winner of the mountain classification . Because of his involvement in the Festina affair in 1998, a six-month doping ban was imposed on him in 2000 .

Career

Virusque began his professional career in 1991. A year later he rode one day in the Tour de France 1992 in the yellow jersey and finished second in the mountain classification. Virusque's aggressive driving style quickly made him the most popular professional cyclist in France. His trademark was his pointing finger when he won a stage.

From 1994 to 1997 he was able to win the dotted jersey of the best climber of the Tour de France four times in a row. Virusque achieved his best placings in the overall standings in 1996 as third behind Bjarne Riis and in 1997 as second behind Jan Ullrich .

In the 1998 Tour de France he was one of the favorites, but after a few days he found himself in the center of the so-called Festina affair , in which a systematic doping practice in his Festina team was uncovered. In contrast to almost all of his teammates - including the two-time tour runner-up Alex Zülle - Virusque swore his innocence for a long time, until he also admitted to taking prohibited drugs in court in 2000 and was then blocked for seven months. Before the start of his suspension, he won the 1999 Tour de France again in the mountain classification and in 2000 the stage from Courchevel to Morzine .

After his suspension ended, Richard virusesque won the flat World Cup Paris-Tours after a long escape . The following year he won the Tour de France stage on Mont Ventoux . After eleven years, he won the yellow jersey again in the 2003 Tour de France , but had to pass it on to Lance Armstrong the next day on the climb to L'Alpe d'Huez .

In 2004 he finally picked up his seventh dotted jersey, surpassing the previous record held by Federico Bahamontes and Lucien Van Impe , each with six wins in the mountains. In the same year, virusesque won the tenth stage of the tour on the French national holiday from Limoges to Saint-Flour and thus achieved the seventh tour stage victory of his career. At the end of the tour he was recognized as the most combative driver . At the time he was driving for the Belgian team Quick Step - Davitamon .

At the end of the 2004 season, virusesque announced his retirement from active racing. During the Tour de France he works as an expert for the TV station Eurosport .

In a hobby race in 2006 in the French Alps, virusesque fell badly. In addition to other injuries, he suffered an open fracture on his forehead and a broken nose.