Axel Eddy Lucien Jonkheer Merckx is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx. He is team director of UCI Continental team Hagens Berman Axeon.
Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002.
Erik Zabel is a German former professional road bicycle racer who last raced with Milram. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cyclists and cycling sprinters of all-time. Zabel won a record nine points classifications in grands tours including the points classification in the Tour de France six consecutive years between 1996 and 2001 and the points classification in the Vuelta a España in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Zabel won the Milan–San Remo four times and numerous six-day track events. He was one of the few road cyclists of recent times who raced all year, including track cycling in winter. For season 2012 he joined Team Katusha as sprint coach. He previously held that same position with the HTC–Highroad team until their dissolution. Zabel admitted to doping from 1996 to 2004. He is the father of cyclist Rick Zabel.
Stuart O'Grady is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 Summer Olympics. O'Grady also won Paris–Roubaix in 2007. O'Grady competed in the Tour de France from 1997 and contended for the points classification in the Tour de France known as the green jersey, finishing second in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2005 races. He wore the yellow jersey of general classification leader in 1998 and 2001.
Bo Hamburger is a Danish former professional road racing cyclist. He retired in 2006.
Jacky Durand is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Durand had an attacking style, winning the Tour of Flanders in 1992 after a 217 kilometres (135 mi) breakaway, and three stages in the Tour de France.
Marcos-Antonio Serrano Rodríguez is a professional cyclist from Galicia, Spain. Turning professional in 1993, he joined the Kelme team and then in 1999 the lottery-sponsored Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE). He remained part of the same team when in 2004 sponsorship and name passed to Liberty Seguros-Würth and in 2006, as the Astana-Würth Team.
Eddy Mazzoleni is a former Italian professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI ProTour Astana Team.
Stefano Zanini is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, the leadout man for Liquigas-Bianchi in 2006, after riding for Mapei, Saeco Macchine per Caffè, and Quick-Step.
Manuel Beltrán Martinez is a former professional road bicycle racer from Spain. His finishes in the Tour de France are somewhat misleading as he was a lieutenant for his team leader. He was the team leader for numerous Vuelta a España rides and performed well.
Jeroen Johannes Hendrikus Blijlevens is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1994 to 2004. He most recently worked as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's WorldTeam CCC Liv, and has also worked as a cycling co-commentator at Eurosport Netherlands.
Laurent Desbiens is a French former road cyclist, who competed professionally between 1992 and 2001. He won the 1993 Four Days of Dunkirk and won a stage in the 1997 Tour de France and wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification for two days in the 1998 Tour.
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.
Pascal Hervé is a former French road racing cyclist. He competed in the individual road race at the 1992 Summer Olympics and raced as a professional from 1994 to 2001. Pascal now lives in Montreal, were he is co-owner of a training center that helps develop local athletes and amateurs of all ages. In between seasons, he holds cycling trips in various locations such as the Pyrénées, the Vosges, the Alpes and, most recently, the region of Charlevoix.
Frédéric Moncassin is a French former road racing cyclist. He turned professional in 1990 and retired in 1999. He competed in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Nicola Minali is an Italian former road bicycle racer. He won a total of twelve stages in Grand Tours, including the prestigious Champs-Élysées stage in 1997 Tour de France. He also won the Paris–Tours classic twice.
Fabio Sacchi is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who raced for the Team Polti, Saeco Macchine per Caffè, Fassa Bortolo, Team Milram and Preti Mangimi teams.
Festina was a former professional cycling team that was active in the professional peloton from 1989 to 2001. The team was sponsored by the Swiss watch manufacturer of the same name.
Jens Heppner is a German former road bicycle racer. He wore the pink jersey as leader of the general classification during the 2002 Giro d'Italia. Although he rode for Telekom during ten years, he has consistently denied ever having doped.
The year in which the 1998 Tour de France took place marked the moment when cycling was fundamentally shattered by doping revelations. Paradoxically no riders were caught failing drug tests by any of the ordinary doping controls in place at the time. Nevertheless, several police searches and interrogations managed to prove existence of organized doping at the two teams Festina and TVM, who consequently had to withdraw from the race. After stage 16, the police also forced the virtual mountain jersey holder Rodolfo Massi to leave the race, due to having found illegal corticosteroids in his hotel room. The intensive police work then led to a peloton strike at stage 17, with a fallout of four Spanish teams and one Italian team deciding to leave the race in protest.
