April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Floyd Landis said he's lost almost $10 million in potential earnings and might need to declare bankruptcy since being accused of using drugs to help win the Tour de France last year.

Landis, 31, is facing a two-year racing ban and would be the first cyclist in the Tour's 104-year history to lose his title for doping after testing positive for inappropriate levels of testosterone.

``I didn't do it,'' Landis said in an interview today. ``I didn't deserve this, but I'm not just going to accept it as defeat to cut my losses.''

His legal defense has cost more than $1 million, about half of which has been paid through donations, Landis said. He also lost more than $3 million from the termination of his contract with the Phonak cycling team, had direct losses of about $2 million in canceled endorsements and another $3 million to $4 million from sponsorships that he was negotiating.

All prize money from the Tour de France, including the 600,000-euro ($818,000) winner's share, has been frozen, he said. He might have to seek relief from creditors by filing for bankruptcy.

``If this goes on much longer, and right now, there doesn't appear to be an end in sight, that's a possibility,'' said Landis, who underwent hip surgery in September and has accepted an invitation to compete in the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race Aug. 11 in Colorado.

Landis also said today that a request filed yesterday by his defense team seeking to move back his May 14 U.S. Anti- Doping Agency hearing probably has been denied.

L'Equipe

The French sports newspaper L`Equipe reported two days ago that a new test on Landis's urine samples taken during the race showed traces of synthetic testosterone. Landis said he has yet to receive the complete results of the re-test of the seven backup samples, which originally were found to be negative.

The cyclist said he is considering suing the drug agency and the laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry, France, known by its French acronym LNDD.

Travis Tygart, the U.S. drug agency's chief counsel, declined to comment on Landis's case. He said the seven-year-old organization never has been sued for financial damages. A phone call for comment to LNDD was unanswered.

The initial testosterone finding came on a sample taken after Landis won the 17th stage of last year's Tour by more than five minutes. He rode solo for 130 kilometers (80.8 miles) to get back in contention after falling more than eight minutes behind the leaders the previous day.

He beat Spain's Oscar Pereiro by 57 seconds on July 23 to capture the three-week event, succeeding Lance Armstrong, who won it a record seven times.

Landis's Contention

The cyclist and his lawyers contend that his urine sample was mishandled and mislabeled by LNDD, that the test is unreliable and that the findings don't meet the minimum standards for a drug offense.

The U.S. drug agency requested the tests of the backup samples by LNDD, which is the same lab that conducted the first tests. The agency refused Landis's request to have the re-tests done by an independent lab.

``We still don't know what sincere reason there was for testing at the same lab, which frankly has some liability issues in the event that they are proven to be incompetent,'' Landis said.

Landis said his request for an open hearing with the drug agency, which is expected to last about 10 days, has been granted.

``The only way we could win is to demonstrate to the world that I didn't do it, that I'm innocent,'' he said. ``If they still want to convict me and hang themselves in the process, than fair enough.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 25, 2007 19:28 EDT