Landis has launched a speaking tour to counter the charges

Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone on stage 17 of the 2006 Tour but he protests his innocence.

The US Anti-Doping Agency's arbitration panel hearing is unlikely to be heard before late spring, with no date set.

"I want to believe the right thing will happen and we'll get a fair hearing, as long as it takes," said the American.

Landis has vehemently denied the allegations, claiming there were a host of inconsistencies in the paperwork and results provided by the French laboratory.

He faces becoming the first Tour winner to be stripped of his title for drug offences and faces a two-year ban from cycling.

He said recently: "I'd like to ride down the Champs Elysees in the yellow jersey again because I need the proper party.

I really have never been treated this poorly by anybody in my life Floyd Landis

"The best case scenario would be if it ended in the next few weeks, we had a hearing and it was over, and I could race the Tour this year. But I don't really see that as a possibility.

"The best we could hope for out of this is the system changes and no one has to go through this again.

"That it becomes more efficient and fair and at least if someone is accused of something they don't have to spend a year of their life trying to prove otherwise."

But Landis says he is realistic about the chances of removing the stain of the allegations from his reputation.

"I don't think the connection between what happened there and winning the Tour will ever go away," he said.

"Whether I change the minds of some of the people who think I'm guilty, that depends on how the hearing goes.

"I really have never been treated this poorly by anybody in my life."