Floyd Landis filed his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for
Sport on Tuesday, 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, said he expected the brief to be filed.
"I don't really have any comment on it," he said. "It's a
right afforded them under the rules, and they've elected to go
forward."
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."