Pereiro refuses to claim '06 Tour

Spaniard Oscar Pereiro may be given the title of winner of the 2006 Tour de France, should Floyd Landis lose the honor after arbitration over his failed doping test is complete, but the Caisse d'Epargne rider does not feel like the race winner. Pereiro told the press, "I am not considering myself as the Tour de France winner," reports Reuters. "In the statutes, Floyd is still the winner. So for now, it's Floyd, not me."

Landis, who faces losing the title if his appeal fails, will try to prove his innocence at an American Arbitration Association hearing early next year. The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), has been hit hard by the recent doping scandals, and snubbed the former Phonak rider during the presentation of the 2007 Tour de France route, displaying his image on the final podium dissolving into a broken mirror. Who, if anyone, will wear the number 1 at the start of the Tour in London remains to be seen. Race director Christian Prudhomme said, "We do not have the right to decide who is the winner of the Tour, so we just have to wait and see."