The ruling centred on an anti-doping test attempted on August 20 last year, when the Briton claimed she was staying at her team hotel, during the International Cycling Union (UCI) Women’s Road World Cup in Vargarda in Sweden.

CAS ruled that the doping control officer had not followed required procedures nor made reasonable attempts to locate Armitstead.

They decided, therefore, that there was no negligence on her part and that she had correctly followed procedures.

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

She 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 the 2015 UCI Women Road World Cup winner free to compete at Rio 2016.

"Ms Armitstead chose not to challenge the first and second whereabouts failures at the time they were asserted against her," said UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead.

"At the CAS hearing, Ms Armitstead raised a defence in relation to the first whereabouts failure, which was accepted by the panel.

"We are awaiting the reasoned decision from the CAS panel as to why the first whereabouts failure was not upheld."

She added: "The collection of whereabouts information plays a key role in delivering a robust anti-doping programme.

"Knowing where an athlete is, and what their movements are, is a vital component of our intelligence-led testing programme and ensures that effective and unannounced out-of-competition testing can be conducted at any time, in any place, 365 days a year."

Sapstead also defended the decision to keep the investigation out of the public domain.

"It is important to note that we will not publicly disclose provisional suspensions, or disclose details of cases, until an anti-doping rule violation has deemed to have been committed, at which point information will be published on our website," she said. 

"This is to ensure that the rights and privacy of everyone involved are respected and to ensure the case is not unnecessarily prejudiced."

Armitstead released a statement last night, citing an administration issue as a "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," she added.

Imagine what we would be saying if she was Russian... #NotWorthIt #KeepSportClean

— Zac Purchase (@ZacPurchase) August 2, 2016

Armitstead’s reprieve has provoked debate among other athletes with many questioning the circumstances surrounding her situation.

Retired British rower Zac Purchase, a lightweight double sculls gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, tweeted: "Given huge amount of resources @ their disposal, having multiple missed tests/filing failure is a monumental cockup! Imagine what we would be saying if she was Russian … #NotWorthIt #KeepSportClean."

Canadian cross-country mountain biker Geoff Kabush, a three-time Olympian, tweeted: "1st test understandable but I’d be hyper aware about missing 2nd. If I missed 2nd there is no chance I’d miss 3rd???"

Armitstead is one of the favourites for the Rio 2016 women's road race gold medal on Sunday (August 7).

She could have been banned for up to two years if she had lost the case, but this could have been reduced to a year depending on fault.