Courageous Contador can lift the cloud

The symbolism was perfect. A race which has been denuded of honour, sneered at and finally derided still carries a heartbeat strong enough to draw crowds so dense that most of those gathered were not able to catch even the most fleeting glimpse of action.

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They stood on bike saddles, balanced precariously on hydrants, hugged trees and clung to the ledges of streetlamps. There remains a fascination with Le Tour which draws a throng, even with the stench of doping that the race carried with it to Paris.

When it was all over a new champion was crowned in Alberto Contador, who maintained his 23-second lead over Cadel Evans. Contador, 24, is the owner of a tale so uplifting that you wish it would stand in splendid isolation above the scourge of drugs.

It is only three years since Contador crashed in a stage of the Vuelta a Asturias. During tests, a cerebral aneurysm was discovered, which threatened not just his career but his life. Fortunately, the massive blood clot was surgically removed. During his recovery, Contador used as his inspiration the life story of the legendary Lance Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to win seven Tours.

Contador still sports a scar which runs from one ear to the other. He said: "When I was in hospital, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to lead a normal life. It was wonderful to be able to come back to competition. I never lost hope.

"Lance Armstrong was an inspiration for me. I read his book in hospital, which motivated me. There is that similarity between us. All that has happened to me has made me stronger. But the comparisons stop there. He won seven Tours. This is my first."

The trouble with remarkable stories in the Tour de France, and never more pertinently than this year, is that there is too often, far too often, a dark tale lurking beneath. Do not forget that nine days ago, Alexandre Vinokourov rode into French hearts when, having struggled to cope with the lingering effects of a horrific crash on Stage Five that required stitches in both knees, he rode a time trial to savour.

After suffering the following day in the Pyrenees, his heroism came to the fore once more with a stage win worthy of entering the folklore of this grand event.

It did go down in Tour history — but for all the wrong reasons. It was the last we saw of Vinokourov. The time trial had been a hollow victory, empty of courage and honour, but full of someone else's blood after the Kazakh had deemed it necessary to have a transfusion to boost his ailing body.

Michael Rasmussen seizing the yellow jersey in a lone ride to Tignes on the first pure mountain stage of the race and then retaining it in the time trial discipline he detests was an equally remarkable tale.

Just not as remarkable as the events which unfolded. Deemed unworthy of selection for the world championships by the Danish Federation, who exposed Rasmussen's dishonesty when it came to declaring his training whereabouts — a compulsory random dope-testing requirement — the diminutive climber had his credibility and reputation stripped away to the point where his Rabobank team felt there was no alternative but to sack him.

Add in the gritty recovery of Floyd Landis 12 months ago only to test positive for high levels of testosterone and the case for scepticism over Contador is compelling.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, the Tour's name is now so besmirched that it is a case of guilty until proven innocent. Contador did not take part in last year's Tour. He was one of nine riders excluded days before the off for an association with the Spanish blood doping doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes.

Nowhere was Contador implicated in the doping. It seemed he was simply in the wrong team, Liberty Seguros, at the wrong time. But, as he has learned with a regret that has tinged his victory, guilt by association is a way of life in cycling.

He added: 'I live with suspicion and I deal with it. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Cycling has gone mad. Scandals have multiplied on this Tour. Suspicion is weighing down on everyone. That includes me, of course, because I'm the leader. But I've undergone lots of tests, on this Tour and out of competition before it, which make these suspicions unfounded.'

A survey carried out by France's sports paper, L'Equipe, found that interest in this year's Tour had diminished in a third of those questioned as a result of the doping scandal. More alarmingly, perhaps, 49 per cent believed it impossible that the winner of Le Tour could be free from doping.

France has to believe in Le Tour. For her, there is simply no alternative. July means the Tour de France. It means presenting herself to the world, showing off her mountain ranges, her chateaux and churches, her vineyards and forests, her coastline and, yes, even her farmlands.

The opportunity to breathe the fresh air that was granted by the unconditional exuberance of a British send-off in London three weeks ago has been spurned. Contador's succession and his tale of triumph from near-death offers Le Tour a second chance. This time it has to be taken.