Cycling odds: Landis loses Tour de France appeal

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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One possible story that may have overshadowed this year’s Tour de France is now gone after American Floyd Landis lost his final chance to retain his 2006 title Monday.

A three-person panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a previous panel's decision, ruling his positive doping test during the Tour two years ago was valid. Landis also must pay $100,000 toward the legal fees of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

In its 58-page decision, the CAS panel said the lab that analyzed Landis' positive test results used some "less than ideal laboratory practices, but not lies, fraud, forgery or cover-ups," the way the Landis camp had alleged.

Travis Tygart, the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said he was “satisfied with the decision.”

“This sends a message that no one – no matter what resources they have at their disposal – can hide from the truth.”

Landis was originally stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title last year after a majority of a three-member panel of the North American Arbitration Association found that he had used exogenous testosterone on at least one occasion during the race.

The American denied wrongdoing and blamed procedural mistakes by the French laboratory for his positive test.

 

The CAS's announcement followed a five-day hearing in New York in March. The body's three-lawyer panel heard 35 hours of testimony that included 14 witnesses and written testimony from 10 others.

In the end, the panel saved its harshest criticism for Landis, who it said essentially tried to muddle the evidence and embarrass the French lab.

"Appelant's experts crossed the line, acting for the most part as advocates for the Appelant's cause, and not as scientists objectively assisting the Panel in the search for truth," the decision read.

The decision comes just six days before the start of the 2008 Tour. Landis won the 2006 edition after a stunning comeback in Stage 17. The ruling upholds Landis' two-year ban from cycling, which is due to end Jan. 29, 2009.

This year’s Tour reportedly will have the most stringent drug testing guidelines in the sport's history.

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