Pereiro considers Landis to be Tour de France champion

Oscar Pereiro still considers Floyd Landis to be the Tour de France champion.

Photo: Pereiro considers Landis to be Tour de France champion

"I don't consider myself the winner of the Tour de France," the Spanish rider said Thursday after organizers unveiled the 2007 Tour route. "The statutes show that Floyd is still the winner."

Landis made a remarkable overnight comeback during the 17th stage of this year's race, the most grueling Alpine leg of the Tour, making up nearly eight minutes on Pereiro.

The same day, a doping test showed Landis had elevated ratios of testosterone to epitestosterone, as well as the presence of synthetic testosterone.

Landis has maintained his innocence and is appealing.

If Landis' appeal fails, he would be stripped of the title and banned from cycling for two years. Pereiro would then become the Tour champion.

Most reigning champions are invited to attend the presentation of the route, but Landis was not. The Tour has said it no longer considers the American to be the winner because of the failed doping test, reports AP.

In the Tour presentation, the traditional eight-minute film ended with Landis on the winner's podium. The screen then switched to become a cracked mirror.

"The deception we felt was capital," Tour director Christian Prudhomme said.