Not since Marco Pantani in 1998 has an out-and-out climber prevailed in the Tour, and the likes of Lance Armstrong and Miguel Indurain – who between them won the yellow jersey 12 times – have been quick to talk up Contador’s bright future.

But, following a Tour that has seen one doping scandal after another rear its ugly head, the 24-year-old’s achievements have been overshadowed.

There were more column inches about doping than there were about Contador in Monday’s press in France, with Patrice Clerc – the president of Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation – speaking of his “anger” at the drugs issues that have beset the event once again.

It emerged that Government officials in France will this week meet with Clerc and other cycling chiefs as discussions continue regarding the path to take in the fight against drugs.

There is also a debate about the plausibility of introducing national squads for the 2008 Tour.

Contador has not escaped untainted as reports continue to link him with Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor at the heart of the doping Operation Puerto investigation.

The Discovery rider maintains his innocence and on Sunday spoke of fulfilling a lifetime ambition by winning the Tour.

Indurain, the last Spaniard to top the podium in Paris before Contador, said of the newly-crowned champion: “He has the engine to be a great champion.

“Despite his youth, he has been strong in the mountains and knew how to resist in the time-trials.

“Now we will have to see how he copes with the pressure of his success.”

Armstrong had earlier said of Contador: “I think we’ve seen the future of Spanish cycling and perhaps international cycling.”

When asked about his thoughts of the Tour overall, Clerc, however, returned to the issue of doping.

“Knowing that a large part of what happened in this Tour could have been avoided, you can’t not have a great feeling of anger,” he said.

“This isn’t new – for years, I have said that the sport is suffering from above all an image problem.

“This problem sprouts from the affairs that have come out into the open, but equally from the permanent suspicion of the performances.”

Roselyne Bachelot, the French health and sports minister, will meet the heads of cycling in the country to “examine together the ways and means of reinforcing the fight against doping”.

And, having seen spectators line streets in the south of England and throughout France over the past three weeks to follow the Tour, she feels upbeat about the future of the sport.

“The Tour, it is above all a love story,” she said in L’Equipe on Monday.

“Fifteen million people on the route is proof of this – it is one of the best sporting events in the world. The determination of the organisers is total, as is the political support. Therefore I am confident.”