Richard Virenque
Infobox last updated on 28 March 2008 This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by editing it to take facts from excessively quoted material and rewrite them as sourced original prose. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (August 2012) Richard Virenque[n 1] (born 19 November 1969) is a retired French professional road racing cyclist. He was one of the most popular French riders with fans for his boyish personality and his long, lone attacks.[n 2] He was a climber, winning the King of the Mountains competition of the Tour de France a record seven times. He is best remembered as the central figure in a widespread doping scandal in 1998, and his being regularly displayed as a moronic rubber puppet with hypodermics in his head on the satirical television programme, Les Guignols de l'info. Virenque finished twice on the podium in the Tour de France (third in 1996 and second in 1997) and won several stages, among them Mont Ventoux in 2002. He is the 18th rider in the Tour to have won stages over 10 years apart. [n 3]