Virenque comes clean too late

Richard Virenque leaves the courtroom in Lille

BBC Five Live's Simon Brotherton looks at the long overdue admission of top French rider Richard Virenque to taking drugs.

A simple confession would have saved everyone a lot of time and gained one of cycling's biggest stars far greater sympathy from the public.

It has taken the five-time King of the Mountains winner over two years to finally admit that he had taken doping products, when all could see he and others were plainly implicated.

First we had the tearful exit from the backroom of a bistro in the 1998 Tour.

Then there was the retirement at the end of that year which lasted for five minutes.

Finally, via a contract with the Italian Polti team, we saw a gradual renaissance over the past two summers with King of the Mountains and stage successes in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

No surprise

The people of France will not be shocked to discover that one of their biggest sporting heroes of the nineties used doping products.

The only surprise is that the former housewife's favourite has finally owned up after clamming up for over two years under intense pressure.

This trial is about far more than one rider's admission to what we all knew anyway

  Simon Brotherton

Despite all the problems though, the publication of Willy Voet's damning book in which he featured prominently and the merciless mocking of French TV's version of Spitting Image, Virenque has been strong enough to achieve some excellent results.

He won his fifth King of the Mountains jersey last year when the organisers only allowed him to start on the orders of the world governing body.

This year he followed it up with a stage win and sixth place overall and recently he competed for his country in both the Olympic games and World championships.

Uncertain future

The immediate future for France's Man of the Year in 1997 does not look too rosy though.

Runner-up in the Tour three years ago, he is still without a contract for next year and is set to be suspended anyway after his confession in the Lille courtroom.

For all his mistakes, Virenque has not done anything more than plenty of others in his chosen profession.

His biggest mistake was that he refused to face reality for too long in a vain attempt to protect his image and avoid becoming the scapegoat for an entire generation of riders.

It is also worth noting that Virenque is not actually on trial for taking drugs.

He is instead charged with "complicity in facilitating and inciting the use of doping products", which is serious enough to carry a maximum two year prison sentence if found guilty.

So this trial is about far more than one rider's admission to what we all knew anyway.

Whatever happens now, Virenque has paid a high price.

What a pity he did not have the courage to answer "yes" to the key question sooner.