30-07-2007 13:43
And Britain's Bradley Wiggins was forced home with his Cofidis team after one of their riders, Cristian Moreni, tested positive for testosterone.
Nine years later, the final mountain stage was delayed by 13 minutes following another rider protest, this time calling for the cheats to leave the sport.
For 1987 Tour winner Stephen Roche, there is a new generation - including his 23-year-old son Nicholas - who have kicked the habits still practised by older riders.
There has to be action behind the grand words, but officials argue the building blocks of a clean future are already in place.
Testing is heavy and regular, although the Rasmussen saga highlighted a need for race organisers, sporting and national federations to deal more closely with each other.
Forty years after Simpson's death, lessons are still to be heard.
Tour organisers ASO this year asked riders to sign an ethical charter and they are talking now about an "ethical passport" that secures the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
With members of the older generation unceremoniously dumped, 24-year-olds Alberto Contador and Mauricio Soler have grabbed two of the race's three prestigious jerseys.
Brits Wiggins, Millar - reformed and evangelical after serving a two-year doping ban - Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas are part of the new guard too.
They will carry the hopes of the Tour into a new era.
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