The Festina affair

Dublin, July 10 1998: The Festina team warm up for the first stage of the Tour which was to be held in Ireland. The team and various members of the backroom staff were implicated in a doping scandal after police caught the team masseur with anabolic steroids, growth hormones and masking agents three days before the start of the Tour Photograph: Pierre Andrieu/AFP

Willy Voet, the Festina masseur who was caught with the illegal substances in his car by customs officers. When Voet appeared before magistrates he said he was acting under orders from the Festina team and that the drugs were for the consumption of their cyclists Photograph: Sebastien Feval/AFP

Roscoff, July 14 1998: Festina's team director Bruno Roussel looks nervous as the pressure mounts on the team Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP

Cholet, July 15 1998: Gendarmes search Festina's hotel Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP

Cholet, July 15 1998: Festina's doctor Eric Ryckaert (centre) is taken by the police to be questioned after the fourth stage of the Tour Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP

Cholet, July 16 1998: Festina team members Laurent Brochard, Richard Virenque and Laurent Dufaux (l to r) give a press conference before the fifth stage of the Tour to deny doping in the face of mounting speculation Photograph: Patrick Kovarik /AFP

Correze, July 18 1998: Virenque weeps as he is surrounded by journalists after being told that Festina were being expelled from the Tour Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Tarascon-sur-Ariege, July 24 1998: Danish cyclist Bjarne Riis speaks to fellow riders as they protest against their treatment by the police and the media. The peloton staged a two-hour delay of the day's stage Photograph: Joel Saget /AFP

Tarascon-sur-Arriege, July 24 1998: A message written by spectators in protest against the doping scandal Photograph: Andreas Rentz/ Bongarts/Getty

Albertville, July 29 1998: The Tour de France's director Jean-Marie Leblanc tries to negotiate with the peloton as they protest at further searches by police and increasingly negative coverage in the media. The stage ended with the pack walking to the finish line and Coca-Cola withdrawing its sponsorship Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP