James Shield - Talking Sport

IT'S blue-riband event might contain more pills than a pharmaceutical convention and perform more blood transfusions than the Saturday shift at Glasgow Royal.

The sport's chiefs deserve a pat for trying to put their house in order, but cycling will never wipe away the stain of drugs until they are viewed in the sporting arena the same way they are in society.

This year's Tour de France was won yesterday by Alberto Contador, but prior to that the event was tarnished by a positive drugs test for pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov, the sacking of then leader Michael Rasmussen by the Rabobank team over his conduct in missing a series of tests and the withdrawal of the entire Cofidis team after their rider, Cristian Moreni, tested positive for testosterone.

So no guessing what the 2007 race will always be remembered for.

It certainly won't be the youngest winner since Jan Ullrich's triumph in 1997 or the first Spanish victor since Miguel Indurain in 1995.

After another race beset by scandals the tour's director, Patrice Clerc, is considering introducing a mixed format featuring national sides alongside the usual sponsored teams, something which has not happened since 1968.

But restoring respectability requires more than simply cosmetic changes. Cultural ones are need too.

Call for more testing and longer bans by all means, introduce them even, but no-one ever cheated and expected to be caught, in the same way that no mugger ever expects to face justice for his crime.

As one observer put it, such are the levels of sophistication these days: "This is not popping amphetamines and swigging brandy before setting off to climb Mont Ventoux as Britain's Tommy Simpson did on the day he died during the 1967 Tour."

Today, sportsmen and women using drugs and blood-doping techniques must have an army of experts behind them.

These are the people who should be targeted - by the police, not the sporting authorities.

Success in most disciplines brings financial rewards in the form of prize money, sponsorship and marketing opportunities. Using drugs on the road, the running track or the pitch isn't just cheating, it's fraud, and should be punished as such.

We can't just tackle the crimes if we want to be clean.

First we must tackle the causes, and that includes the people who peddle and develop these potions.