To paraphrase Grantland Rice — by way of David Millar's online blog — it is not whether you won or lost that matters, but how you played the game.

The 2007 Tour de France ended in Paris last night and almost immediately thoughts turned, not to the exciting prospect of new champion, Alberto Contador, who at only 24, should have a bright career in front of him, but to how the race will ever recover from the past ten days of disgrace, humiliation and appallingly negative media coverage.

For those who love cycling and who still love the Tour, this is a very confusing time. They can tell themselves that in fact only two riders — Alexandre Vinokourov and Cristian Moreni — tested positive during the race, that the system of anti-doping measures are getting better, that the older generation of riders is finally fading away, but they are deceiving themselves if they believe that the Tour’s bad reputation is undeserved.

More than ever, success in the Tour is a mixed blessing. The maillot jaune used to inspire respect; now it promotes suspicion. Through a process of elimination, the yellow jersey finally slipped over Contador’s shoulders, but it may prove to be a heavy burden. The Spaniard will be under intense scrutiny for the rest of his career.

There is no doubt that the Tour is sick and has to heal itself as quickly as possible if its decline is to be arrested. All France now recognises this and the Tour was not spared by any of the nation’s weekend papers, with one commentator comparing the race to an alcoholic who tearfully promises to stop drinking, but then sneaks out to the corner shop and hides his next ten bottles under the floorboards.

Recent experience has shown us that, whatever the format of the race, a significant number of riders will cheat by taking drugs. Some will take drugs to win, others will take them to survive. Asking them to sign ethical charters, promising to scorn performance enhancement, or simply to play fair because cheating is wrong, will not work. This means that more draconian measures are required.

There are now 11 months in which to re-launch the Tour de France and to redeem the damage done this July. Yet there is mistrust everywhere, between the Tour’s owners, ASO, and the international federation, the UCI, between the riders and the fans, between the teams and the media. In an increasingly chaotic and divided sport, few really believe change is possible, and too many appear to have abdicated responsibility.

Amidst all the sound and fury over the weekend, there were few practical ideas on how to move forward.

Instead, there were pages of speculation over who was trustworthy and who was not. But desperate times require desperate measures and somewhere behind all of this, there are the remnants of what was once a beautiful bike race. The 2007 Tour became a joke, but the old race must be saved before it becomes a tragedy.