Such fairy tales once reflected the Tour’s romance — now they merely raise suspicions.

“We paid the price to find that out,” Prudhomme said.

Last year, Contador vs. Rasmussen was replaced by McQuaid vs. Prudhomme as an internal conflict nearly upstaged the race itself.

McQuaid had to borrow an accreditation pass from a television station to gain access to racers in Cognac on July 28.

Without the UCI and Contador, the Tour has an uncertain feel both off and on the road.

Valverde and Evans should be contenders. Italy’s Damiano Cunego and Denis Menchov are other strong riders, having both won the white jersey awarded to best young riders in previous years. Carlos Sastre, 33, is also a perennial hopeful, with a fourth place last year and third in 2006.

“I think Cadel’s probably the obvious choice,” O’Grady said. “Valverde has yet to prove himself in the Tour. Every year, he’s one of the favorites, but he never seems to go all the way through to Paris. After that, I don’t know. I think it’s going to be a very open race. There’s a whole difference between going for the podium and taking control of the race and winning it.”

Valverde, sixth overall last year, showed his climbing prowess in 2005 by fending off Armstrong on a mountain finish. Impressed, Armstrong declared the Spaniard as a future Tour winner.

This year’s course, which cuts counterclockwise through France, could suit Valverde. With four mountaintop finishes, the real gains could be in the hills, rather than in the time trials — where Evans is stronger.

Eighth overall in 2005, fourth in 2006, the consistent Evans trailed Contador by just 23 seconds in Paris last year.

This time, the 31-year-old Australian will have Yaroslav Popovych — Armstrong’s former teammate — to help him up steeper climbs after Contador exposed his limitations in 2007. Although resilient, Evans lacked the knockout punch, the devastating uphill burst that Contador, Rasmussen and Armstrong used to floor their rivals.

Yet, at the recent Dauphine, Evans teamed up with Astana’s Levi Leipheimer to attack Valverde up La Toussuire, a formidable Alpine climb. Valverde just managed to hold on and win the race.

Leipheimer, third at last year’s Tour, will not take the start this year because he, too, rides for Astana.

Rabobank, Cofidis and Saunier Duval were invited by ASO even though they also had riders involved in doping scandals in 2007.

ASO has “double standards by keeping in the CSCs and the Rabobanks, all the guys that have a laundry list of problems,” Armstrong told Cyclingnews.com. “If you want to kick one out, kick them all out.”

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