Olympics-Cycling-Armitstead cleared for Rio after doping offence appeal

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - British world road race champion Lizzie Armitstead was cleared on Monday to ride in the Olympics after winning a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) appeal against a ban for missing three doping tests. The 27-year-old, who won the silver medal in the Olympic road race in London four years ago and who will be among the favourites again in Rio, was facing an automatic ban under the "whereabouts system" after three missed tests within a year. However, CAS ruled that procedures were not followed correctly for the first of the tests, which was declared void. "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 in a statement. "I am pleased that CAS has accepted my position, having provided detailed information demonstrating the situation around my strikes." Armitstead, who is due to ride in the Olympic road race on Sunday, missed the third test on June 9 and was notified of the ban a month later. She said was cleared by CAS on July 21 on the grounds that anti-doping officers had not followed procedure for the first missed test in Sweden last August and not tried hard enough to find her, though the Swiss-based Court has yet to confirm their judgement. Armitstead passed an in-competition test the following day. She said the third missed test, which triggered the ban, was the result of her not updating her location on the whereabouts system after "an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family" while the second was an administrative failure on her part which she did not dispute. (Reporting by Ed Osmond, editing by Mitch Phillips)