Update: Landis Considers Options After Losing Tour de France Doping Case

An appeal to the Court for Arbitration of Sport is the last chance for Floyd Landis to overturn his doping conviction involving the 2006 Tour de France. (Getty)(ATR) U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis has not yet decided whether he will appeal a decision by an arbitration panel that upholds his conviction on doping charges from his victory in 2006 Tour de France. Landis tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.

The decision of the three-member arbitration panel was announced today, four months after a week of testimony at a hearing in California.

An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport now stands as the only chance for Landis to avoid becoming the first rider to be stripped of his title for doping in the 105 years of the race.

“This ruling is a blow to athletes and cyclists everywhere" Landis said in a statement from his law firm. "For the Panel to find in favor of USADA when, with respect to so many issues, USADA did not manage to prove even the most basic parts of their case shows that this system is fundamentally flawed. I am innocent, and we proved I am innocent”.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart calls the ruling “a victory for all clean athletes and everyone who values fair and honest competition”.

Landis spent more than $3 million on his defense, much of it raised in personal appearances and through his website. A three-memberarbitration panel heard the Landis appeal in May. (Getty)

In addition to loss of the Tour title, Landis also must serve a two-year suspension from competition.

In the hearing before the arbitration panel, attorneys for Landis challenged the procedures followed by the French drug lab which analyzed the samples taken the day Landis won a crucial mountain stage.

The decision of the arbitration panel keeps intact the perfect appeals record of USADA, which prosecuted the case against Landis.

“This decision confirms for the overwhelming majority of American athletes who compete ethically that USADA is committed to protecting their right to participate on a drug-free playing field” Tygart said.

Landis’ lawyer, Maurice Suh also said in the statement “the majority Panel's decision is a disappointment, but particularly so because it failed to address the joint impact of the many errors that the AFLD laboratory committed in rendering this false positive. The majority panel has disregarded the testimony of Mr. Landis' experts, who are preeminent in their respective fields, without analyzing the impact of the errors on the final result. This is a miscarriage of justice”.