Eric Rijkaert also written Eric Rijckaert (194327 January 2001) was born in Oostwinkel,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was a former Belgian sports physician and worked with the

Festina cycling team Festina was a former professional cycling team that was active in the professional peloton from 1989 to 2001. The team was sponsored by the Festina, Swiss watch manufacturer of the same name. History Beginnings The team first appeared as ''Lot ...

. He was said to be at the heart of the Festina affair of 1998 that led to the withdrawal of the entire Festina team during the

1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route t ...

. Rijkaert was the team doctor from 1993 until the Festina affair in 1998.

Career

Rijkaert was active in cycling when EPO was being introduced to the professional peloton by doctors such as Francesco Conconi and his former assistant

Michele Ferrari Michele Ferrari (born 26 March 1953) is an Italian physician, cycling coach and author, who is mostly known for his role in supplying bicycle racers with performance-enhancing drugs, notably EPO. His most famous client was Lance Armstrong. Biog ...

. Rijkaert was firstly the team doctor of the PDM team from 1986 to 1992. After that he joined the

Festina image:Festina F16184 4.jpg, Festina F16184 Festina is a Spanish watch conglomerate. In 1985, businessman Miguel Rodríguez acquired Festina, a brand founded in Switzerland in 1902, thus forming the ''Festina-Lotus Group.'' History Festina w ...

team where he stayed as doctor until the Festina Affair of the 1998 Tour de France. Rijkaert was said to have proposed the use of EPO to some of the riders. Rijkaert was known amongst the riders as "Dr Fiat Punto" after the "

Punto Punto may refer to: In music: * Punto (Venezuela), a style of Venezuelan music * Punto guajiro, a style of music of the Cuban countryside and its guajiros * Punto music, a style of music of Panama, Panamanian music In automobiles: * Fiat Punto, s ...

" (a small model of Fiat automobile). This name came about in comparison to the famous Italian physician Michele Ferrari. This was because of his carefulness compared to the high performances yielded by Ferrari. Rijkaert would not let the riders blood haematocrit level go above 53-54%. Rijkaert was under pressure from team management to go higher and further with doping of the riders.Eric Rijckaert
Rijkaert together with Bruno Roussel were arrested during the 1998 Tour de France in the town of

Cholet Cholet (, probably from Latin ''cauletum'', "cabbage") is a commune of western France, in the Maine-et-Loire department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019), it is the second most populous commune of Maine-et-Loire, after the prefecture, Angers. ...

. Rijkaert spent 100 days in jail while suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

which he stated in a book he released in Dutch called ''The Festina Affair'' or ''De Zaak Festina''. This ordeal during the diagnosis of his lung cancer was said to have deeply affected Rijkaert mentally and physically. His book attempted to open a discussion about doping in cycling. In October 2000, Rijkaert was fined approximately 15,000 euros for breaking the law against doping. Rijkaert died from lung cancer in January 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rijkaert, Eric 1943 births 2001 deaths Cycling coaches Belgian sports coaches Drugs in sport in Belgium Deaths from lung cancer Belgian sports physicians