Cycling Tour de France doping scandal:  Tour de France winner Floyd Landis should find out on Monday if a second urine test confirms an initial result showing an abnormally high testosterone reading. If the test on the "control" sample he gave after stage 17 of the race is also positive, he faces being stripped of his title and will probably receive a two-year ban, plus a four-year disqualification from ProTour events.

Confirming that his positive test is likely to turn into a drawn-out saga that will tarnish the sport in the long term, Landis said he does not expect the reading of the second sample to differ from the first. The American declared yesterday he expected a long fight to attempt to clear his name if he is banned.

"There must be an explanation but I don't know if we'll ever get one. What I have to do now is prove there are variations in my testosterone and epitestosterone levels that are out of the ordinary. Unfortunately this isn't going to go away whatever happens next.

"It appears this is a bigger story than my winning the Tour. I think there is a good possibility I can clear my name but regardless of what happens I don't know if this will ever go away."

The 30-year-old denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs in a telephone press conference early yesterday morning. "Most of the public has an idea about cycling because of the way things have gone in the past. So I'll say no, knowing that a lot of people will assume I'm guilty before I've had a chance to defend myself."

Adding to speculation about the reasons for his positive test, Landis revealed he had got drunk the night before the stage where he gave the urine sample in question. After stage 16, when he looked to have lost the race, he had two beers in a bar, and about four glasses of whiskey with friends in his hotel room.

World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound said yesterday that he felt professional cycling could be dealt irreparable damage if Landis is proven to have tested positive.

"If there is a positive test, what have you got? The guys who came second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth at last year's event have been busted (in the Spanish investigation), and now the winner of this year's event is busted in the race itself. You build up and create a new hero, and he gets slapped down."

While one of Landis's doctors felt the test was unreliable, Pound said he was confident in the urine test for testosterone.

Guardian Service