Remember that time during or after the Tour de France 1997, stage 14, where Richard was accused of buying a stage win from Jan??
Cause I sure do (and I just watched the footage)
Like, let's just ignore the fact that Jan is self-admitted a BIG fan of Indurain who would often gift stage wins to other riders. Let's just forget that Jan's standing in the GC wasn't in question so there was no danger in him leaving the stage win to Richard. Let's just ignore that it's basically expected of the yellow jersey to leave the stage win up to the rider they worked with the whole day; it's a question of honer (Like Lance did in 2000 to Marco on the Ventoux. Although there is some contesting about that, as Lance revealed Bernard Hinault called him afterward saying, "you never gift the Ventoux.")
Let's forget that Jan said after the stage, "I'm not a cannibal, yes. So I'm happy that I was able to defend the yellow jersey. And Richard Virenque rode very hard all day today. So he definitely deserved to win today."
Let's just ignore all that and spread the rumor that Richard bought his stage win from Jan🤦
