There's no point pretending otherwise - the first thing most of the general public think of now when you mention cycling or the Tour de France is drugs. It blew the sport apart in the 1998 race and we've been dealing with it ever since. It just seems that there's always something new whether it's another rider testing positive or another team losing its sponsors or even a former winner like Bjarne Riis coming out and admitting he won the '96 race on EPO. The sport's image is what it is and we have to deal with that.

It has taken far too long to get the whole thing cleaned up. It looked for a few years after '98 that things were improving but of course, as it turned out, they weren't at all. The next disaster was only ever around the corner.

Some other affair was always on the way, leading all the way to last year where two of the favourites were taken out on the eve of the race and the winner ended up being stripped of the title.

It's unfortunate that that's the way it had to be and there's no doubt that the race has suffered a hit in sponsorship because of it this year.

That was probably the only way the sport would change. To be fair to the UCI, I think they've been doing a lot to get on top of the problem. But their problem has always been with the teams.

Going back years, the teams certainly knew it was going on and their attitude was always about getting results to justify their massive budgets.

It was self-interest and nothing else that drove them.

You could call it ambition or you could call it selfishness.

It was just all about results.

The teams were cut-throat in pursuit of what they wanted.

One team would suspect another of doping and would want to keep up with them.

Everyone was looking after their own corner. Nobody cared what it was doing to the sport.

But in the last year, I think there has been a change of attitude among the teams and I think that has come from sponsors leaving or threatening to leave. Last year was the worst year. To have the winner of the Tour de France stripped of his yellow jersey has to be a line in the sand, I think. I know people have said that before but I hope this is it. You always wonder what's around the next corner but I think that this is the line we go forward from.

It looks to me like the sport is getting close to that point now where it's not going to be accepted any more by teams, by sponsors, by the UCI.

Maybe it will take another couple of years yet for people to believe in it, I don't know.

I don't think the UCI really know either.

We keep going, though.

The Tour is still very popular in central Europe and the people lining the roads still turn out in huge crowds, even with all the setbacks the race has taken. This will be my 10th year covering it as part of the media and my third year following it all the way from start to finish. Typically, I'll head away for a month or so, going from stage to stage. I'll meet up with Eurosport on Wednesday because their coverage changes from year to year depending on where we're going and what the stages are. Then it starts on Saturday in London.

As for a winner, I think the German rider Andreas Kloden is the one to keep an eye out for. He came third in last year's race and has taken it easy so far this year. He's had a good start to the season which makes a big difference to other years when he's struggled with injuries and crashes and broken bones. I just think he has the consistency as well as the climbing ability to do well and his time trials match well with the best of them as well.

Se�n Kelly will be commentating on the Tour de France for Eurosport and is a partner in Murphy&Gunn-NewlynM Donnelly-Sean Kelly, Ireland's only professional cycling team