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Landis makes last effort to keep Tour title

Associated PressVail, CO Colorado
Peter Dejong/APFloyd Landis of the U.S. holds his 2006 Tour de France trophy on the podium after the final stage of race, July 23, 2006.
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LOS ANGELES Floyd Landis will appeal his doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, his last chance to retain his 2006 Tour de France title.Emily Carhart, a spokeswoman for the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said Wednesday that Landis had decided to appeal.An arbitration panel ruled against Landis last month, upholding the results of a test that showed the American cyclist used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback Tour victory. That decision meant Landis must forfeit his title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30.Landis repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs.In a news release on the Floyd Fairness Fund Web site, Landis said, “Knowing that the accusations against me are simply wrong, and having risked all my energy and resources including those of my family, friends and supporters to show clearly that I won the 2006 Tour de France fair and square, I will continue to fight for what I know is right.”If Landis loses his appeal, he’ll be the first person in the 105-year history of the Tour to lose the title because of a doping offense.After the Sept. 20 ruling, Landis said he was unsure if he would appeal.The arbitrators voted 2-1 again him. In their 84-page decision, the majority found the initial screening test to measure Landis’ testosterone levels the testosterone-to-epitestosterone test was not done according to World Anti-Doping Agency rules.But the more precise and expensive carbon-isotope ratio analysis, performed after a positive T-E test is recorded, was accurate, the arbitrators said, meaning “an anti-doping rule violation is established.”Landis’ yellow jersey is scheduled to be awarded to second-place finisher Oscar Pereiro next week.The Spanish cyclist will receive the winner’s jersey in a ceremony Monday in Madrid, race organizers said Tuesday.The International Cycling Union declared Pereiro the winner a day after the arbitrators’ ruling.


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