Paul Kimmage and David Walsh, award-winning journalists for the Sunday Times, have carried the fight against drugs in the Tour de France with a series of seminal pieces over the past few years. Their work is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the issues that continue to plague the Tour. Click on the links to delve into our archives.

Paul Kimmage

Asks if drug abuse has become so endemic that it is already too late to save the Tour.

A frank interview with three-times Tour winner Greg Lemond, who says that his triumphs felt hollow as he struggled with the secret of his abuse as a child.

The wall of silence in the sport breaks down as Bjarne Riis admits to using drugs.

Floyd Landis talks about the battle to rescue his credibility.

Talks to Bradley Wiggins in 2006 about the pressures of the Tour.

Interview with Philippe Gilbert, a bright young talent, who believes that his talent will not be enough for him to make it big.

Says that David Millar, the top British cyclist who wants to move on from his team's doping scandal, still has questions to answer.

As a former Tour rider, Kimmage says every competitor who suffers the pain of the mountains is rewarded by the sight of Paris. But what possessed him to return among a cast of freaks to relive one of the worst stages 20 years on?

Despite the gloom surrounding the sport, Kimmage says nothing stirs the emotions like the Tour de France, but wonders whether there are any riders still wide-eyed and innocent, as he was when competing in the 1986 Tour aged 24.

David Walsh

Another Tour, another drugs scandal. David Walsh talks to Whitney Richards, who breaks a five-year silence to claim that Michael Rasmussen has a dope-tainted past.

Talks to American cyclist Adam Bergman, who insisted he was innocent when he failed a drugs test, but now admits his guilt.

Reports on drugs tests that came back to haunt Lance Armstong in 2005, just after he had retired with seven Tour de France victories.

Interviews Dick Pound, who closed the net on drug cheats at the Olympics and warned that even tougher action to clean up sport is still to come.

Reports on David Millar's axing before the 2004 Tour as police crack down on doping.

Discusses the fatal overdose of Marco Pantani in 2005, whose life and death reflect a story of drug use, not of heroism for a cyclist who was first kicked out of cycling in 1999.

A century old in 2005, the Tour de France is still a cherished sporting epic, but its status is tainted by a growing drug culture.