KEY POINTS:
Disgraced Floyd Landis yesterday filed his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, his final attempt to overturn a two-year ban that cost him the 2006 Tour de France title.
The American is appealing a ruling by an arbitration panel in September which upheld findings by a French laboratory that he had used synthetic testosterone in winning the 2006 tour.
Maurice Suh, Landis' lawyer, said: "We welcome the opportunity to present this case to CAS. 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 CAS will agree, and stop the miscarriage of justice that resulted from the earlier arbitration proceeding."
Landis, 31, was stripped of his title and given a two-year ban following the panel's 2-1 ruling on September 20.
The lab results received the backing of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which had challenged Landis at his California arbitration hearing earlier this year.
Landis tested positive for elevated testosterone levels after his victory on stage 17 of last year's tour.
His positive test followed an astounding comeback in the final mountain stage, a day after a poor performance had all but knocked him out of contention.
Although the CAS has frequently upheld the principle of "strict liability" as championed by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee, Landis will draw some hope from Spanish cyclist Inigo Landaluce.
He was cleared by the CAS of doping in 2006 after finding the lab technician who conducted the rider's 'B' sample had also been involved in analysing the 'A' sample.
Landis' lawyers are arguing that the same French laboratory made serious errors in the handling samples.
- REUTERS
