point, was that three teams – ONCE, Banesto and Riso Scotti – had left the race, that more were probably quitting, and that searches were proceeding at multiple team hotels. When the dust settled, which was not until next morning, although it was clear that the Spanish had gone, as well as Luc Leblanc, there was one other important exit: Rodolfo Massi, the first leader of a classification in the Tour de France to disappear from the running. The rather crucial difference, though, was that, unlike the Spanish, Massi had not left by choice.

Seventh overall at the time and the King of the Mountains with a massive lead on Christophe Rinero of 335 points to 197, as well as being a stage winner in the Pyrenees, Massi was'Back then, there just wasn't that kind of pressure,' he explains. 'At Cofidis it was very much a mom-and-pop organisation, and by then [world -famous sports director Cyrille] Guimard' – previously running Cofidis in 1997 – 'was gone, so we didn't have the pressure of a big high-paid sports director there, either.'

Sadly, this was due to change shortly afterwards, when Cofidis introduced its notoriously stress-producing UCI-points-related salary system, criticised by riders as diverse as David Millar and Philip Gaumont for wrecking team solidarity, and by Gaumont for indirectly encouraging doping. It is also interesting to note that following its introduction, although Millar was, for many years, their top Tour rider and won the opening prologue in 2000, Cofidis never had such a successful GC performance as in 1998.