Spain's Pereiro receives 2006 Tour de France jersey

Oscar Pereiro at long last got his hands on the winner's yellow jersey from the 2006 Tour de France on Monday.

"Finally, we have a winner and it's Oscar," Tour director Christian Prudhomme said at the handover ceremony at the Spain's Sports Ministry in Madrid. "Oscar, you have won the Tour out on the road."

The Spaniard moved up from second to first after the disqualification of Floyd Landis for a doping violation.

"I have the feeling of arriving at the end of a thriller, after having spent 14 months thinking about it and not being able to concentrate as I should have on my job," Pereiro said. "It is essentially a kind of release."

The International Cycling Union formally declared Pereiro the winner on Sept. 21, one day after a U.S. 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.

"The moment I received the profit of my work, I had mixed feelings, something between satisfaction and regret for what we were deprived of," Pereiro said.

Landis has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is expected to issue a final and binding ruling by mid-February.

Spanish Sports Minister Jamie Lissavetzky and Patrice Clerc, head of Tour organizers ASO, attended 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 2006 Tour victory. Pereiro finished 57 seconds behind Landis in the final standings.