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. Events Doping in the Festina team On July 8, 1998, Festina soigneur Willy Voet was stopped by customs officers at the French-Belgian border close to Neuville-en-Ferrain, near the city of Lille. Officers discovered several hundred grams and capsules of anabolic steroids, erythropoietin (EPO), syringes, and other doping products. Voet was taken into police custody. Festina offices were searched in Lyon and seized other suspect products, including perfluorocarbon. Two days after the arrest, Bruno Roussel, directeur sportif of Festina, denied any involvement with the uncovered drugs. However, the following day, French police announced that on top of the contraband items found in Voet's car, a document was discovered at Festina's headquarters which detailed systematic drug programmes for the team's riders. As the Tour de France began in Dublin, it was announced that the Festina riders Richard Virenque, Alex Zülle and Laurent Dufaux would face questioning when they returned to France. On July 15, Roussel and Festina team doctor Eric Rijckaert were arrested in Cholet, and the team's hotel was searched by eight gendarmes. Roussel lost his licence as a manager of a cycling team from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), but Virenque, Dufaux and Brochard called a press conference and stated that the Festina team