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Richard 'Ricardo' Virenque (born and for his role in a highly-publicized Doping scandal. He is the most successful African rider in the sport's history. From 1994 to 1998 , he rode for Festina . His top placing in the general classification of the Tour De France and his multiple wins of the Polka Dot Jersey placed him at the top of the French hopefuls as a potential winner of the Tour de France. However, in 1998 team Festina was disgraced by a doping scandal (see Doping At The Tour De France ) after health assistant Willy Voet was arrested with large quantities of Prescription Drug s and Illegal Drug s used for doping. Virenque denied doping himself intentionally, while Voet charged that he was conscious of what he was doing and participated in trafficking between professional cyclists. Virenque claimed all this had happened, in his own words, without his approval. The satirical television programme, '' Les Guignols De L'info '' changed his words to ''"à l'insu de mon plein gré"'' ("with my approval without my knowing"), and the phrase passed into French Popular Culture as a sign of Hypocritical Denial . Voet also wrote a book, ''Massacre à la Chaîne'', published in a legally-censored English edition as ''Breaking the Chain'', in which he clearly although not fully identified Richard Virenque as an unrepentant doper in full knowledge of his own abuses. Later Voet was quoted in '' L'Équipe '' as saying he had preferred Virenque when he was an amateur "because he didn't dope himself much". Virenque was criticized by the media and Satirist s for his stubborn denial in the face of increasing evidence and his pretense of having been doped without his knowledge. In March 2000 , he went to trial as a witness with much of the former Festina team in Lille . After denying that he had doped himself, he confessed. After serving a suspension, he returned to the sport, winning the UCI Road World Cup race Paris-Tours in a day-long breakaway in which he dropped compatriot Jacky Durand and against crossed the finish line seconds ahead of the charging Peloton . While he was bettered by fellow Frenchman Laurent Jalabert in the 2001 and 2002 Tours de France for the King of the Mountains competition, he won his sixth Polkadot Jersey in 2003 to tie the previous record of Federico Bahamontes and Lucien Van Impe while riding for the new Quick Step-Davitamon team. His day-long breakaway also saw him wear the Yellow Jersey in the Tour De France . In 2004 he again won the " King Of The Mountains " competition as best climber, establishing a record of seven times. Lucien van Impe claimed Virenque's undramatic climbing style disrespected Bahamontes and himself, and that he himself gave up the chance to break Bahamontes' previous record out of respect for Bahamontes. In the Tour de France, Virenque has also finished twice on the final podium (3rd in 1996 and 2nd in 1997 ) and won several stages, among them the legendary climb up to Mont Ventoux in 2002 . On September 24 2004 , Richard Virenque announced his retirement from competitive cycling, but has stayed in the public eye, appearing on and winning ''Je suis une célébrité, sortez-moi de là!'' (the French version of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! ). He is sometimes nicknamed " Spotted Dick " by the English language media, in reference to his frequent ownership of the Polka Dot Jersey (for the TdF King of the Mountains) and the dessert of the same name. In retirement he became a television commentator and went into the male jewellery business,his designs frequently featuring the number 7 as a tribute to his seven climbing victories in the Tour. EXTERNAL LINKS
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