Organisers of this month's road cycling World Championships in Melbourne have criticised a decision to invite disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis to attend a pre-event conference. Organisers of the road cycling World Championships in Melbourne have slammed a decision to invite disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis to speak at a pre-event conference focused on doping in the sport. Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive drug test, would join legal experts, scientists and academics at the Pathways for Pro Cycling conference at Deakin University on September 27-28 ahead of the September 29-October 3 world championships, the university said. The World Championships organising committee said it had withdrawn its support for the conference and had asked organisers to drop the invitation. The 34-year-old Landis spent four years and more than $1 million (£637,000) protesting his innocence before confessing to doping offences in May and accusing Lance Armstrong and several other American riders of cheating. Landis's comments sparked an ongoing federal investigation into alleged doping, while Armstrong, who has never had a positive drug test, has denied the allegations and questioned his accuser's credibility. Culbert said the conference would no longer be held in an official venue of the World Championships, and he cast doubt on the cyclist's intentions.