American cyclist Floyd Landis has lost his last resort appeal to retain
his 2006 Tour de France title after the Court of Arbitration for Sport
ruled his positive doping test from the race was valid.
The
Swiss court's three-member panel announced its verdict Monday,
dismissing Landis's appeal of a two-year ban for a positive result for
synthetic testosterone. The court panel deliberated the case for three
months following a hearing in New York.
Sports' highest court
confirmed that Landis is suspended until January 29, 2009. He was also
ordered to pay $100,000 toward the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's expenses
to fight the case.
Landis said he is "saddened" by the decision and is looking into his legal options and deciding on the best way to proceed.
Landis
tested positive for testosterone after winning the 17th stage of the
2006 Tour de France with an incredible breakaway through the Alps. The
American rider is the first to be stripped of the Tour de France title
for a doping violation.
Landis has vehemently denied using
performance enhancing drugs, blaming the French lab for mistakes that
he says caused an inaccurate result on his sample.
In its
58-page decision, the court said the lab used some, quote, "less than
ideal laboratory practices, but not lies, fraud, forgery or cover-ups,"
which is what Landis had alleged.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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