Rabobank sacks Rasmussen, Tour leader out of race

And so, as I wished, justice has been served at the Col d'Aubisque. Not at all in the way I imagined, but justice has been served.

Now in Saturday's time trial Evans and Leipheimer will contend for the championship of the clean version of le Tour.

As to Contador, I say about him what I said about young Schleck in the Giro. He is young. It is an endurance sport. Endurance sports do not usually reward the young, they reward the fully mature and strong. Contador is young.

Contador is in his first year with Team Discovery Channel. Last year he rode for Astana.

There is no way to rescue the race for this year. For this year the results are hopelessly corrupted. The contenders have not raced against each other, they have raced against phantoms who have now gone. There isn't any way to reconstruct what might have been. The race is corrupt, they should stop it.

But they won't stop it and so on Saturday the final time trial matches two riders who appear to be clean in a final showdown. Did you happen to see Evans after the finish at Aubisque? If he is on drugs he needs much better drugs. He looked to be in agony. Did you see Leipheimer? He looked to be completely and totally used up.

It is a corrupt race this year but these two appear to be the best of the clean and perhaps they can, in the end, provide a tiny bit of dignity for this most embarrassed sporting endeavor.