Professional Career
He turned professional for RMO in January 1991. Lino said:
When I saw him arrive in the team, I soon understood. He was scared of nothing and he mouthed off at the slightest thing. From his first races, it was a festival, particularly at the Tour Med... We were riding at 60kmh and he attacked and held the peloton in respect for two kilometres. On the other hand, he was less impressive in the team time-trials."
Virenque rode his first Tour de France in 1992 as a replacement for another team member, Jean-Philippe Dojwa. He was earning 15,000 francs a month. He said he dreamed only of "being able to follow the best in the mountains, riders like Claudio Chiappucci, Indurain, LeMond, Thierry Claveyrolat." On the third day he took the maillot jaune of leadership after a long breakaway with two other riders on the col de Marie-Blanque in the Pyrenees. He held it for a day, losing it next day to his team-mate Pascal Lino, who led for the next two weeks. Virenque finished second in the climbers' competition.
He said of his talent in the mountains:
| “ | "You have to be able to move sur la plaque as soon as you're at the top. I generally change gear 300m from the top. On a gentle climb, I sprint with my hands on the bottom of the bars, or I accelerate with my hands on the brake levers. I climb cols by feel and I don't look at my heart meter. That said, I do have a look at my rivals' heart meters sometimes, to see what state they're in. Often I look at my computer to see how many more kilometres there are to the summit. When you're not going well, you avoid looking upwards. In a climb, I look straight ahead 10 metres in front of me to judge my rivals, analyse the gears they're using, see if they're rolling in the saddle, if they're breathing easily or not. You have to sense all that. Some riders don't show signs of being tired but after riding with them so many times in the mountains I know what shows if they're not going well. But I'm not going to say what they are." | ” |
Virenque was sought by several teams after his first Tour and Cyrille Guimard said at the world championship at Benidorm that he had arranged for him to join his Castorama team, where he would replace Laurent Fignon. But the announcement was premature and Virenque joined another French team, Festina. He stayed there until the team dissolved in the wake of a doping scandal in 1998 (see below).
Virenque first wore the yellow jersey of the Tour de France in 1992 and for the last time in 2003. In 2003 he won the stage to Morzine and wore the jersey on the climb of Alpe d'Huez. He recalled:
| “ | "That day on the Alpe d'Huez was... pff!... happiness. When I left the hotel in the morning, the people were there waiting for me and, on the road, they were encouraging me, putting their hand on me. Taps, gestures to encourage me. I could hear their voices, their shouts, which meant a lot to me. The sort of moment, that brings waves of euphoria. To climb the Alpe d'Huez or be in the Tour without those people, that would be... Without that, I wouldn't be a Tour rider. The Vuelta, the Giro, all that is fading. But the Tour, that's brilliant everywhere. I climbed the Alpe d'Huez for the pleasure. I never really suffered. It was a 13 July, it was my big day. Let me show my jersey! I wallowed in the crowd . And what a crowd! They were shouting so hard that when I got back to silence, in the camper car, my ears were ringing. Like when you come out of a concert or a night club." | ” |
Virenque was a talented climber but a modest time-triallist. He was coached for time-trials by Jeannie Longo and her husband.
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