Floyd Landis latest appeal to keep his 2006 Tour de France victory has been denied.  He has spent millions of dollars trying to prove his innocence, but all he’s gotten from it is a $100,000 bill for the legal fees of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

From the AP Article:

In its 58-page decision, the panel at sports’ highest court said the lab that analyzed Landis’ positive test results used some “less than ideal laboratory practices, but not lies, fraud, forgery or cover-ups,” the way the Landis camp had alleged.

I don’t think Landis had much of a chance in this whole affair.  Cycling has had a difficult time getting rid of the doping, and clearing Landis’ name probably wouldn’t have helped that effort very much.

The trust but verify blog has some pretty significant coverage of the whole 2006 Landis doping event.

Cycling news has a in-depth article of the appeal, including this tidbit:

While this ends Landis’ path on reclaiming his Tour de France title in terms of the sporting world’s official legal channels, he does have the option to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court in the next 30 days. In a statement release by his attorney Landis did not discount any options. “I am saddened by today’s decision,” he said. “I am looking into my legal options and deciding on the best way to proceed.”

It will be interesting to see what Landis decides to do next, now that his options are even more limited, and considering this has cost him so much money.