In November 1997 Cyclingnews.com reported an inquiry in The Netherlands, which appeared to reveal doping in the PDM team. Wim Sanders, the doctor from 1990 to 1991, was the center of the investigation, which was initiated when the general manager of the team, Manfred Krikke, called the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service to investigate. It was said Sanders supplied anabolic steroids and EPO to the team and was responsible for the intralipid affair of the 1991 Tour de France. According to Cyclingnews.com, 1990 was the height of the drug taking in the team and two riders stopped with heart problems; whether this refers to stopping professional cycling or performance-enhancing drugs was unclear. Gisbers denied knowledge of doping.
During the June 1998 Tour de Romandie, Gianetti abandoned during a stage and later became unconscious. He was taken to Lausanne University Hospital where he remained on the intensive care for 10 days, as his life was in danger. Initially, doctors suspected an infection, but all tests came back negative. Two doctors then suspected that Gianetti had been transfused with a perfluorocarbon emulsion, to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of his blood. This was reported to the authorities and an investigation was opened. According to legal documents and witness testimony uncovered by Radio France, Gianetti blocked the public release of this investigation by filing for damages when he discovered the identities of the whistleblower doctors who reported him. Gianetti filed for 900,000 Swiss francs from Dr Jean-Pierre Randin and 3 million Swiss francs from Dr. Gérald Grémion. In the 2025 Radio France report, Grémion confirmed that the financial pressure forced him to negotiate with Gianetti's lawyer to reach an agreement. “In exchange, I had to promise never to speak publicly about this person again,” Grémion told Radio France. “You could say that my silence was bought.”
The Festina affair was a series of doping scandals within the sport of professional cycling that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a support car belonging to the Festina cycling team just before the start of the race. A resulting investigation revealed systematic doping involving many teams in the Tour de France. Hotels where teams were staying were raided and searched by police, confessions were made by several retired and current riders, and team personnel were arrested or detained. Several teams withdrew completely 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 Team ONCE physician Nicolás Terrados, were only given fines, while the case against Festina doctor Eric Rijckaert was dropped because of his deteriorating health.
Alleged Team Rabobank doping in 2002:
According to a multiple sourced VeloNews article published on 20 July 2007, mountain bike racer Whitney Richards accused Rasmussen of trying to get him to transport a box, which Rasmussen had told Richards contained his favorite cycling shoes, to his training base in Italy in early 2002. Richards alleged that the box contained packets of Hemopure, a bovine-hemoglobin-based blood substitute which is not currently approved for human use outside South Africa and did not become commercially available there until January 2006, and which might potentially have been used in a doping program. At the time there was no screening test for Hemopure; it is, however, banned by the WADA. Richards said he destroyed the Hemopure, at which Rasmussen is said to have grown angry and said to Richards “Have you any idea how much that shit cost?”
A second journalist confirmed that Richards had related the same story to him over two years ago, off the record, and claims that the incident is the one described in the epilogue of journalist David Walsh’s recent book From Lance to Landis. Rasmussen had declined to comment on the story, saying only, “I cannot confirm any of that.”
Operación Puerto (Operation Mountain Pass) is the code name of a still unfinished Spanish Police operation against the pro sports doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. It started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world’s most famous cyclists and teams at the time.
Media attention has focused on the small number of professional road cyclists named; however, sportspeople from other disciplines including football and tennis have also been connected with the scandal, although they were not officially indicted. Among the total number of athletes, fifteen had been acquitted by May 2007, while three had admitted doping or evidence of blood doping was found.
Nike Teammates Lance Pharmstrong, Tyer Hamilton, Floyd Landis doping scandals.
2026 World Number One Ranked Rider, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE.
April 12, 2026, Paris Roubaix finale, Wout van Art defeats Tadej Pogacar.
Belgian Wout van Art driving the Paris to Roubaix cobblestone race from the front.
Three-time winner of Paris Roubaix, Mathieu van der Poel, “The flying Dutchman”.
