Alberto Contador’s first Tour de France win should have been a cause for great celebration, as the 24 year old this afternoon held off Cadel Evans’ valiant challenge in the final time trial from Cognac to Angouleme, to take a 23 seconds lead onto the Champs Elysees.

Instead, there was a palpable atmosphere of anti-climax as the realisation sunk in that Contador, for all his athletic qualities, had won the 2007 Tour by default.

For the Spaniard, the new star of the Discovery Channel team, this victory has been a revelation. Written off by some as simply an impetuous climber before this race started, Contador, has proven his doubters wrong, building his success on a strong all-round performance — and the fortuitous eviction of his biggest rival, Michael Rasmussen.

As seems to be the case with too many major victories in cycling these days, there is a dark side to what should be a feel-good story of a gifted young athlete, struck down by an aneurysm two years ago, who then recovered to scale the highest peak in his discipline.

Instead the scandals of the last week and Contador’s own past have muted the applause. Such is the climate of suspicion that the doubts, focussing on his involvement in the Operacion Puerto investigation and his apparent presence, signified by the initials ‘AC,’ on the client list of Madrid sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, still persist.

Last night, as he faced a barrage of cameras and microphones, Contador was remarkably composed. “I am innocent and I don’t have to prove anything,” he said.

This may be the truth and, for the time being at least, we should perhaps give him the benefit of the doubt. But the uncertainty surrounding the Spaniard exemplifies the malaise that comes with a culture of doping. Belief in success is thin on the ground.

There have been so many lies, so many positive tests and so many revelations that mistrust and suspicion have become ingrained in the sport. For Contador, if he is as he says, an innocent, that is something of a tragedy.

“You can trust me,” Michael Rasmussen said a few days before he was unceremoniously kicked off the race. The main question being posed by all those listening at the winner’s press conference tonight was: “So can we trust you, Alberto Contador?”