Landis set for final court appeal

Landis is suspended from racing until January 2009

American Floyd Landis will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday in a final bid to regain his 2006 Tour de France victory.

The 32-year-old tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone during the race and was given a two-year ban.

Last September a US arbitration panel upheld laboratory findings that he used synthetic testosterone during the Tour. Landis's appeal will take place behind closed doors at a New York law office and is expected to last for five days.

The CAS ruling, which is final, will be announced from Lausanne, where the court is based.

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.

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

Landis had produced an astonishing comeback on the final mountain stage, which came a day after a poor performance had appeared to knock him out of contention.

The American has maintained his innocence despite the positive test, blaming mistakes in testing procedure by the French laboratory for the result during his US arbitration hearing, which was open to the public.

"I am innocent of the doping allegations against me," he said after announcing his appeal to last October.

"I hope that the arbitrators of the case will fairly address the facts showing that the French laboratory made mistakes, which resulted in a false positive," he said after announcing his appeal to last October.

Landis is the first rider in the race's history to be stripped of the title for a doping offence.