There was no yellow jersey in the Tour de France peloton today, in the aftermath of the eviction of Michael Rasmussen by his Rabobank team. In past Tours, this has usually occurred when the race leader has crashed out of the race, a show of respect from the peloton towards a fallen comrade.

Famously, when his great rival Luis Ocana of Spain crashed out of the Tour in a Pyrenean thunderstorm, on the descent of the Col de Mente while leading the 1971 Tour, Eddy Merckx assumed overall leadership, but steadfastly refused to wear the ‘maillot jaune’ the next morning.

In this case, however, there was little respect shown towards the disgraced Dane. Johan Bruyneel, manager of the Discovery Channel team of Alberto Contador, the fresh-faced young Spaniard who now looks assured of victory in Paris on Sunday, did his best to be diplomatic, saying it was “a shame” to take the race lead in such circumstances.

A shame it may be, but for Bruyneel, apparently still searching for a sponsor to replace the departing Discovery Channel, this success will be a godsend. The Belgian’s track record in the Tour is remarkable: if Contador wins in Paris on Sunday, Bruyneel will have been team manager to eight of the past nine Tour champions.

Contador is not a supreme time triallist, but barring accidents, he should survive Saturday’s final race of truth and hold off nearest challenger, Cadel Evans of Australia, to seal a wholly unexpected success.

For the wily Bruyneel, whose season began with the controversy over team leader Ivan Basso’s involvement in the Operacion Puerto investigation, and his subsequent admission of "attempted doping", this is a remarkable and fortuitous turnaround.