Having been successful in her appeal, the Briton will be able to compete at Rio 2016, where she is one of the favourites for women's road race gold medal next Sunday (August 7).

If she had lost the case, Armitstead could have been banned for up to four years. 

The ruling centred on an anti-doping test which was asserted to have been attempted on August 20 last year, while Armitstead was staying at the team hotel, during the International Cycling Union (UCI) Women’s Road World Cup in Sweden.

CAS ruled that the doping control officer had not followed required procedures nor made reasonable attempts to locate Armitstead, therefore deeming that there was no negligence on her part and that she had correctly followed procedures.

“I have always been and will always be a clean athlete and have been vocal in my anti-doping stance throughout my career,” Armitstead said.

“I am pleased that CAS has accepted my position, having provided detailed information demonstrating the situation around my strikes.

“This issue was one of administration and was the result of UKAD not following proper procedure nor fully attempting to make contact with me despite clear details being provided under ‘whereabouts’.

“I was tested in competition the day after this test, reinforcing my position that I do not cheat and had no intention of not being tested.”

Armitstead, the London 2012 road race silver medallist, claimed a filing failure on ADAMS whereabouts system, caused by an administrative oversight, had been behind her second missed test on October 5.

The Briton stated that a third missed test on June 9 was due to her not updating her whereabouts, having had an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family.

Armitstead went on to win the Women's Tour 10 days later, adding to her wins in the Tour of Flanders and Trofeo Alfredo Binda races, which are part of the UCI Women's WorldTour.

An independent panel of leading legal experts from CAS accepted her appeal against a UKAD sanction, leaving 2015 UCI Women Road World Cup winner free to compete at Rio 2016. 

"I think that there should be clearer guidelines for those administrating tests and would like to work with UKAD going forward to explore how this can be better addressed in the future so no other athlete is put in this position,” said Armitstead after the verdict.

"Meanwhile, I hope that UKAD can now return to the important job of making sure all athletes are clean and that Rio is the clean Olympics that we all want.

“I understand how important it is to be vigilant in my role as a professional athlete and realise the potential implications this could have had.

“I would like to thank British Cycling and the team around me for all of their help and support.

"I am very much looking forward to putting this situation behind me and firmly focussing on Rio again after what has been an extremely difficult time for myself and my family."