A Tour de France win by Chris Froome could benefit the historic race

THE French would hate it but the best person to win the 100th Tour de France may be Briton Chris Froome.

British cyclist Chris Froome

AS if by magic, in Corsica, on the eve of the 100th running of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong arrived.

He did not come in person, but via an interview with Le Monde, and, from those trying to steer this event to safer waters, Armstrong managed to steal the agenda and drag it straight back to the topic with which he has become synonymous.

It was impossible, Armstrong said, to win this event without the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The past tense is important and may have got lost in translation.

By midday, Cadel Evans, who won the race two years ago, was being asked about Armstrong's statement: "He says it is impossible to win without drugs." Evans shrugged and replied simply: "I believe differently."

A couple of hours later, Armstrong was back at the centre of the conversation, via Twitter, offering a clarification in which he explained that he was talking only about his winning years, 1999-2005.

"Today?" he wrote. "I have no idea. I'm hopeful it's possible."

And with that issue tidied up, kind of, the Tour returned to celebratory mode. This "100th Tour" business is a very big deal. The imagery and narrative of its rich history can hardly be missed. But a mention of doping and the champagne instantly goes flat.

Porto-Vecchio seems quaint and small-town for the first hosts of No.100, yet we are on a slow crescendo and when the Tour rolls into Paris in three weeks, the volume will be on full, with almost every living past Tour winner on hand for the festivities.

One man not invited - here we go again - is Armstrong. Other tainted victors, such as Bjarne Riis (1996) got the call. All of which is another example of why the Tour is both an epic yet deeply compromised event.

Of course, it would love to head to a brighter, more credible future and, in this respect, its fortunes are closely tied to Team Sky. Armstrong says he is "hopeful it's possible" to win clean. Team Sky have had it set in stone from their inception that their stated aim is to win clean and they have invested considerable time and effort in attempting to prove their credibility.

What the Tour would treasure above all, naturally in this year of years, is a French winner. We will no doubt witness the now traditional flashes of genius from the gurning streetfighter, Thomas Voeckler, and the usual home-team fireworks on Bastille Day.

But an overall French winner? No chance. The French have not properly contested their own treasured event since 1989 when Laurent Fignon famously came up eight seconds short.

If the winner cannot be local, then probably the last person most Frenchmen would want is another Briton. One, last year, was enough. However, for the 100th Tour, for its credibility, for the opportunity to steer the race back to calmer waters, Chris Froome appears about as safe and believable a favourite as you could find.

The alternative would be Alberto Contador, but the 100th Tour would have a sour taste if the man atop the final podium in the Champs Elysees was a rider with a doping past.

Froome versus Contador is a gross simplification of a race that will have 219 riders at the start. Nevertheless, it makes for an intriguing clash and one that will polarise the roadsides.

But Froome should win it. One of the key elements of his victory over Contador at the Criterium du Dauphine three weeks ago that got lost atop the final climb to the Risoul ski station was not that Froome won comprehensively, but that he won with so much to spare. He beat Contador, but as one senior member of the team commented, he had hardly been tested.

Froome then declared that he had improvement still within him. So some observers have said "it is his race to lose". That is quite some claim when there are still 3404km to go to Paris, but Sir Dave Brailsford, the team principal, was on a similar tack on Thursday when he said that the race would be won by the team who make the fewer mistakes.

But here, again, Froome has the advantage. Other teams have watched Sky and wondered what they are doing and how to copy them. But it is not as simple as that, as Mick Rogers explained two days ago.

Last year, Rogers was one of the key riders who took Sir Bradley Wiggins to victory; this year he is riding in Contador's Saxo-Tinkoff team; it seemed obvious, therefore, that he would be bringing a lot of valuable intellectual property with him.

"But you can't just copy the team," he said. "They are a lot more advanced in their training and their sports science. They know exactly what is required to win. Until you have the people who understand what is going on, you can't just copy it."

So Sky have been ahead and they remain there, too. Another question that will be answered over the next three weeks, therefore, is not just whether Sky will have the winner on the podium, but the No.2 position too. Because the second-best rider in the world is arguably Richie Porte, Froome's friend and team-mate.

These are personalities of whom we will learn a considerable amount as they set about conquering the world. Froome is a reserved man with a gentlemanly humility and - apparently, at least - a genuine sense of right and wrong. In other words, he could hardly be more different to Armstrong. Which is why the 100th Tour winner could be just what the Tour needs.