October 10, 2007 — Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) of Spain will don the yellow leader’s jersey from the 2006 Tour de France at a ceremony in Madrid on Monday, Oct. 15 according to Canadian Press and AFP. Pereiro finished second in the tour, behind Floyd Landis (formerly with Phonak) but Landis tested positive for artificial testosterone.

This set the stage for a lengthy legal dispute which resulted in the announcement on September 20 by the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA) that Floyd Landis’ appeal to the three-member panel of the American Arbitration Agency (AAA) was denied and that a two-year suspension from professional cycling applies to the cyclist. The UCI thus officially announced on September 21 that Pereiro is the 2006 TdF winner.

Pereiro, 30, finished only 57 seconds back from Landis in the 2006 TdF. Pereiro an all-round road cyclist, also finished 10th overall in the 2004, 2005, and 2007 TdF. Pereiro himself was investigated for doping during the 2006 TdF, but this was for salbutamol, an asthma medication for which he possesses a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) issued from the UCI. Once Pereiro provided the proper documentation, French authorities dropped the investigation on January 25, 2007.