honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 3:36 p.m., Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Cycling: Landis files final Tour de France appeal

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

Floyd Landis filed his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport today, setting in motion his last chance to regain the 2006 Tour de France title that was stripped because of a positive doping test.

Landis, who lost his arbitration hearing in September, promised last month that he would appeal the decision to CAS, which likely will hear the case early next year.

The introduction to the 90-page brief Landis' attorneys submitted to CAS said Landis fully supports ongoing efforts to eradicate doping in cycling.

"However, to wrongly strip a champion of his victory due to a flawed test is much worse than to have an athlete cheat his way to victory," the introduction read. "To ensure a fair process and to protect against the travesty of wrongfully convicting a person for an act he or she did not commit, the anti-doping system must strike an adequate balance between the need for accuracy and reliability of laboratory test results and fairness in sports."

Last month, a panel sponsored by the American Arbitration Association ruled against Landis, upholding the results of a test that showed he used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback Tour victory. That decision meant Landis had to forfeit his title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30.

By a 2-1 decision, the arbitrators ruled against Landis even though the majority found numerous problems with procedures followed at the French lab that analyzed his urine.

Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that prosecuted the case, did not immediately return messages left at his office by The Associated Press.

When Landis announced he would appeal last month, however, Tygart said USADA was ready.

"If an appeal is based on the evidence, it will be a similar outcome," Tygart said. "But the appeal right is a right afforded under the process that every athlete is entitled to. Of course, we'd prefer that our resources be devoted to supporting clean athletes."

Landis' first appeal was estimated to cost around $2 million. The hearing in front of CAS likely would reach a six-figure cost, though not into the millions because much of the evidence already has been established and heard.

Attorney Maurice Suh again will represent Landis. The case is expected to be heard behind closed doors in Lausanne, Switzerland. The arbitration hearing was held in public — part of Landis' attempt to shine a light on an anti-doping hearing process that he claims is flawed.

"We welcome the opportunity to present this case to CAS," Suh said. "We will prove, once again, that the French laboratory's work violated numerous rules and proper procedure, rendering its results meaningless and inaccurate. We are optimistic that CAS will agree, and stop the miscarriage of justice that resulted from the earlier arbitration proceeding."