Landis files appeal with CAS

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By Susan Westemeyer

Floyd Landis has filed his appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking to overturn his two-year suspension on doping charges. In the appeal, his attorneys continued their arguments that "a flawed test" unfairly stripped the USA rider of the 2006 Tour de France title, according to the AP.

Landis fully supports anti-doping efforts, the introduction to the appeal noted, and continued, "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. 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."

While riding for Switzerland-based Team Phonak the rider tested positive for testosterone after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour. The decision upholding the test and banning him was announced in September.

Maruice Suh will continue to legally represent Landis. "We welcome the opportunity to present this case to CAS," Suh noted. "We will prove, once again, that the French laboratory's [Châtenay-Malabry anti-doping laboratory (LNDD) - ed.] 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."

"I don't really have any comment on it," said Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). "It's a right afforded them under the rules, and they've elected to go forward."

Cyclingnews' coverage of the Floyd Landis case

September 28, 2008 - Landis takes case to US federal court
September 10, 2008 - Landis signing with current Health Net-Maxxis team for 2009
July 1, 2008 - CAS delivers final blow to Landis legal challenge
June 30, 2008 - Landis loses final appeal
June 28, 2008 - Landis decision due Monday
March 12, 2008 - Landis' judgment day nears
October 21, 2007 - Landis files appeal with CAS
October 18, 2007 - AFLD takes another look at Landis case
Thursday, October 11 - Landis continues fight, appeals to CAS
Saturday, September 22 - UCI officially names Pereiro 2006 Tour champion, Landis case raises issues
Friday, September 21 - Landis' appeal denied, two year suspension levied

Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the Floyd Landis case