The scandal started in fairly innocuous circumstances on July 8 1998 when a masseur from the Festina team by the name of Willy Voet was stopped by custom officials in northern France.
However, when Voet's car was searched, he was found to have 400 bottles and capsules of doping products on board on the eve of that year's Tour de France.
The little-known Belgian was jailed and repeatedly questioned by police. Initially his team denied all knowledge, before all hell broke loose on 17 July - towards the end of the first week of the race - when the Festina team were thrown out of the Tour.
That ban came after sports director Bruno Roussel admitted the team had been doped under medical supervision and the resulting chaos undeniably took more of the limelight than Marco Pantani's race win that year - in an ironic twist, Pantani was later exposed as a drugs cheat.
The Festina riders arrested complained of their mistreatment by police, with Virenque describing them as "being dealt with like common criminals". His Festina teammate Alex Zuelle later recalled: "In the beginning, the officials were friendly but then the horror show began. I was put in an isolation cell and had to strip naked. They inspected every cavity.
"The next morning, they confronted me with compromising documents they had found. They said they were used to seeing hardened criminals in the chair I was sitting on. I wanted out of that hellhole so I confessed."
In fact, by July 23, all of the team of riders had admitted to taking drugs except for team leader Richard Virenque and Pascal Herve, who later confessed when the matter finally came to court at the end of 2000 and were banned from cycling, albeit temporarily.
The resulting fall-out from the affair was massive. Other teams pulled out of that year's Tour, among them ONCE, Banesto and Risco Scotti, complaining of their treatment by officials. TVM were also booted out of the race when doping products were found in bins at the team hotel.
Meanwhile, one stage was delayed following a rider sit-down protest and another was cancelled altogether following further rider objections.
Britain's Chris Boardman, a clean rider, had been riding the 1998 Tour, but crashed out and was at home when the scandal hit. He recalled: "What's very sad was that I was happy not to be part of what was the pinnacle of my sport and one of the biggest annual sporting events. It felt so sordid."
But 10 years on have the lessons been learned? Team Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters, whose team have a ride-clean ethos, explained: "Things have changed. Hopefully doping is now the exception rather than the norm. Sure, the Festina Affair played a part in changing that but it's taken a long time to get from there to now and people's attitude to doping changing. Hopefully, ten years on, we're finally winning the war."
The testing procedures are as solid as they can be. For the first time, there is a test for human growth hormone while riders due to be tested are accompanied from the finish line to the anti-doping laboratory. Riders also have to make their whereabouts known three months in advance.
As one rider said this week: "If they don't catch the cheats like this, they never will."
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
Jawan
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAtlee%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shah%20Rukh%20Khan%2C%20Nayanthara%2C%20Vijay%20Sethupathi%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20results%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EIreland%20beat%20UAE%20by%20six%20wickets%0D%3Cbr%3EZimbabwe%20beat%20UAE%20by%20eight%20wickets%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20beat%20Netherlands%20by%2010%20wickets%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20v%20Vanuatu%2C%20Thursday%2C%203pm%2C%20Zayed%20Cricket%20Stadium%0D%3Cbr%3EIreland%20v%20Netherlands%2C%207.30pm%2C%20Zayed%20Cricket%20Stadium%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EGroup%20B%20table%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1)%20Ireland%203%203%200%206%20%2B2.407%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Netherlands%203%202%201%204%20%2B1.117%0D%3Cbr%3E3)%20UAE%203%201%202%202%200.000%0D%3Cbr%3E4)%20Zimbabwe%204%201%203%202%20-0.844%0D%3Cbr%3E5)%20Vanuatu%203%201%202%202%20-2.180%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz