The 1998 Tour de France was won by Marco Pantani, but it will always be remembered for police raids, arrests, rider protests and the definitive exposure of widespread doping in the world's biggest race. In this feature, the latest in our 'I love the 1990s' series, journalist and author Jeremy Whittle reflects on those three crazy weeks, which almost brought the sport's greatest event to its knees.
Laurent Jalabert was fuming. He was sick of it, he said, sick to the back teeth. Sick of the media sticking their microphones in his face, sick of the police raids and the constant suspicion, sick of the jeering and the booing.
"Whoever wins this Tour will be the 'King of the Dopers'," he raged as he got off his bike one final time to quit the 1998 Tour de France. A few yards away, his ONCE sports director Manolo Saiz was making his valedictory comments to the media.
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"I have shoved my finger up the Tour's arse," Saiz said succinctly as he turned his back on the Tour and took his team back to Spain. As Saiz exited, he led a walkout of Spanish teams and, in a show of solidarity, most of the Spanish press.
Earlier that day, in Albertville, the bleary-eyed TVM team had led a start line protest. They, in turn, were angry over their treatment by the French police who had raided their hotel the night before and taken both riders and staff into custody.
"The police were acting like Nazis," said one member of TVM staff.
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