Floyd Landis, the winner of the 2006 Tour de France, can expect to be formally stripped of his title after the failure of his appeal to the US Anti-Doping Agency against his positive test for testosterone. The arbitration panel of three voted two to one to deny Landis’s appeal against any sanction for his positive test on July 20 last year.

ASO, the parent company of the Tour de France, has long considered the American’s win null and void. However, Landis has the right to appeal against this latest decision at the Court for Arbitration in Sport. “This ruling is a blow to athletes and cyclists everywhere,” Landis said in a statement. “I am innocent, and we proved I am innocent.”

Pat McQuaid, the International Cycling Union president, said that Oscar Pereiro, of Spain, will be declared the race winner. Landis will receive a two-year ban, dating from his positive test, which would rule him out of the Tour de France until 2009.

The American’s performance on stage 17 of the 2006 Tour raised eyebrows, particularly because it came less than 24 hours after he had seemed in a state of near-collapse.