PARIS (AP) -- Alberto Contador won the doping-scarred Tour de France on Sunday, a new, young and unlikely winner for the three-week race shaken to its core by scandals.
The 24-year-old rider for the American Discovery Channel team was the youngest champion since Jan Ullrich of Germany in 1997. He also was the first Spaniard to win the crown since the last of Miguel Indurain's five titles in 1995.
His margin of victory -- just 23 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans of Australia -- was the second-narrowest in the Tour's 104-year history, after 2,200 miles of racing through Britain, Belgium, Spain and France.
"It's an extraordinary joy," said Contador, who kissed his winner's yellow jersey on the podium and thrust his arms ecstatically, the Arc de Triomphe in the background. Outside the Discovery team bus, staffers uncorked champagne.
"I think we've seen the future of Spanish cycling and perhaps international cycling," seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong said.
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Another Discovery Channel rider, Levi Leipheimer of the United States, finished third, 31 seconds behind.
Contador, speaking through a translator, called his victory a "dream come true." In 2004, he suffered a brain aneurism while racing in Spain and collapsed with convulsions. He had surgery within hours, which doctors said prevented irreversible brain damage. They cited a congenital problem with a brain artery.
While in the hospital, Contador drew inspiration from a book about Armstrong.
Contador had seemed destined for second place until the Tour was hit by a bombshell just five days from the finish: the ouster of race leader Michael Rasmussen.
