Alberto Contador, however, capped a storybook comeback from a brain aneurism three years earlier to win the sport's biggest prize -- 23 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans for the second-narrowest margin in the Tour de France's 104-year history.
"I am marked for life by my brain operation and it allows me to savor this moment," Contador said.
How he got to the winner's stand, though, was a different story.
First, Rasmussen was kicked off his team while wearing the yellow jersey with just a few days to go. A few days earlier, Vinokourov also had to go. To the uninitiated it seemed the young Spaniard had won by default.
Contador also came under the doping glare since he missed last year's Tour when his former team was disqualified because he and four other riders were implicated in Operation Puerto. He said his name turned up by mistake.
Doping was also lurking at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
"Every big event becomes a time bomb," Bettini said before the race.
ANTI-DOPING PLEDGE
As a gesture, the International Cycling Union (UCI) wanted every rider to sign an anti-doping pledge, but Bettini refused for personal reasons. The host city got wind of it and sued to keep him out of the race. It needed a court decision to get the defending champion to the starting line.
At the same time, Giro d'Italia champion Danilo Di Luca withdrew from the championships after the Italian Olympic Committee recommended he be banned for doping. That week, the UCI lost a court case and was forced to let Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde race even though it is convinced he is linked to Operation Puerto.
"I thought that after Landis, Operation Puerto, it could not get worse," UCI president Pat McQuaid said. "In effect, it has got worse."
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