Oscar Pereiro is finally getting his hands on the winner's yellow jersey from last year's Tour de France.
Tour director Christian Prud-homme was scheduled to award the jersey to Pereiro in a ceremony yesterday evening at Spain's Sports Ministry, moving the Spaniard up from second to first after the disqualification of Floyd Landis for a doping violation.
"I'm excited, but we'll see how it feels after I'm actually holding it later today," Pereiro said.
The International Cycling Union formally declared Pereiro the winner on Sept. 21, one day after a US arbitration panel voted 2-1 to remove the title from Landis for using synthetic testosterone during the Tour.
It's the first time in the 105-year history of the race that a winner has been stripped of the title.
Landis has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is expected to issue a final and binding ruling by mid-February.
"The Tour has told me that the ceremony today will make it official, so that's enough for me," Pereiro said.
Spanish Sports Minister Jamie Lissavetzky and Patrice Clerc, head of Tour organizers ASO, were expected to attend the ceremony.
Pereiro held a lead of more than eight minutes over Landis before the American made a spectacular comeback in the 17th stage to set up his Tour victory. Pereiro finished 57 seconds behind Landis in the final standings.
Meanwhile, Alessandro Petacchi won the Paris-Tours cycling race on Sunday, heading the pack that caught up with a group of breakaway riders with only 500m left.
The Milram rider edged past fellow Italian Francesco Chicchi in second, and Spanish sprinter Oscar Freire in third.
Petacchi clocked 5 hours, 32 minutes, 37 seconds for the 256km ride from Paris to Tours, in the heart of France's Loire Valley known for its sumptuous castles.
The win comes just days after an announcement last Tuesday by the Italian Olympic Committee that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called for a ban against Petacchi for using an asthma drug.
Italy's cycling federation cleared Petacchi of any wrongdoing after he registered a "non negative" test for salbutamol after winning a stage in the Giro d'Italia on May 23.
The committee said WADA was joining an appeal of that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, sport's highest tribunal. The court has said it will make a ruling on the matter, but has not set a date.
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