Landis tested positive after winning stage 17 of the 2006 Tour

The disgraced 2006 Tour de France winner tested positive during the race.

He is appealing against September's ruling by a US arbitration panel that upheld laboratory findings that he used synthetic testosterone during the Tour.

Landis's lawyer, Maurice Suh, said: "We will prove, once again, that the French laboratory's results are inaccurate."

Landis tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone after his victory on stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, and Spain's Oscar Pereiro was subsequently declared the 2006 Tour de France champion.

We are optimistic the CAS will agree and stop the miscarriage of justice Landis's lawyer Maurice Suh

Testosterone can speed up recovery after exercise and improves stamina and strength.

The 31-year-old had produced astonishing comeback on the final mountain stage, which came a day after a poor performance had appeared to knock him out of contention.

In a 90-page brief sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Landis' legal team said he "fully supports" the efforts by professional cycling to combat doping.

His lawyers said: "To wrongly strip a champion of his victory due to a flawed test result is much worse than to have an athlete cheat his way to victory."

They added the system "must strike an adequate balance between the need for accuracy and reliability of laboratory test results, and fairness in sport" in order to prevent the "travesty" of wrongfully convicting an innocent person.

They concluded: "We are optimistic the CAS will agree and stop the miscarriage of justice that resulted from the earlier arbitration proceeding."

Landis will draw some hope from Spanish cyclist Inigo Landaluce.

The Spaniard was cleared by the CAS of doping charges in December 2006 because the lab technician who conducted the rider's 'B' sample had also been involved in analysing the 'A' sample.

His lawyers are arguing that the same French laboratory made serious errors in the handling of the American's samples.