Lizzie Armitstead feared she would miss the Rio Olympics after UK doping officials tried to have the world champion cyclist banned last month for missing three tests.

The 27-year-old, who shot to fame in 2012 when she won Great Britain's first medal at the London Games with a silver in the women's road race, was facing up to a two-year ban after being charged last month by UK Anti-Doping for three 'whereabouts' failures in a 12-month period.

She was suspended on July 11 and as a consequence denied the chance to race in the final build-up to the Games.

Lizzie Armitstead feared she would miss the Rio Olympics after missing three tests

The world champion successfully had the first of the three failures struck from her record

But with the support of a legal team backed by British Cycling, Armitstead went up against UKAD at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on July 21 and successfully had the first of the three failures struck from her record, citing what CAS agreed was an administrative error by her accusers.

That has enabled the hugely gifted Armitstead to race in Rio on Sunday as one of the favourites for gold.

But after being contacted by Sportsmail, Armitstead issued a statement through her representatives, conceding that 'it has been an extremely difficult time for myself and my family'.

UKAD had said Armitstead had committed her three whereabouts failures on August 20, 2015, October 5, 2015 and June 9, 2016, potentially leaving her career in ruins.

But a legal team managed to demonstrate that a testing official was at fault for the first test.

The Armitstead statement explained: 'The ruling relates to a UKAD anti-doping test which was asserted to have been attempted on Thursday August 20, 2015, whilst Armitstead was staying at the team hotel, during the UCI Women's Road World Cup in Sweden.

Four years ago Armitstead won the silver medal in the women's road race in London

THE WADA 'WHEREABOUTS' RULING All athletes must fill out an online form, on the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS), detailing where they will be for one hour each day between 6am and 11pm. Testers turn up at random at the given address and, if there is no immediate answer, stay for the full hour attempting to contact the athlete every 10-15 minutes. If an athlete has failed to be available for testing on any given day at the location and time they specified — or are not where they said they would be — they will be deemed to have missed a test. If an athlete misses three tests in the space of 12 months, that amounts to an anti-doping rule violation. which could mean up to a two-year ban. Advertisement

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

'CAS also ruled that there was no negligence on Armitstead's part and that she had followed procedures according to the guidelines.

'Armitstead undertook in-competition testing the following day, as leader of the UCI Women's Road World Cup.

'The independent panel of leading legal experts from CAS promptly and unanimously cleared Armitstead of the asserted missed test.'

Sportsmail understands the testing official did not explain to hotel staff why he wanted to know Armitstead's room number at her team hotel in Sweden at around 6am.

Having been refused the information by the hotel, he then attempted to contact Armitstead on a mobile phone that the cyclist had put on silent while she slept.

No further attempts, it appears, were then made by the testing official and a missed test was logged with UKAD.

Armitstead, on the Yorkshire roads earlier this year, has been working towards Rio

In the same statement Armitstead said: 'I have always been and will always be a clean athlete and have been vocal in my anti-doping stance throughout my career.

'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.

'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.

'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 focusing on Rio again after what has been an extremely difficult time for myself and my family.'

But UK anti-doping officials tried to have her banned for missing three tests in a year

Armitstead's lawyers demonstrated that the first test was an administrative error

The two latter failures mean Armitstead remains in a precarious position until October this year.

UK anti-doping rules state an athlete who misses three tests in any 12-month period — it changed from 18 months in 2013 — can face up to a two-year ban.

British former Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu, in Rio to contest the 400 metres, was suspended for 12 months in 2006 after missing three tests while Mo Farah went into London 2012 only one failure away from a possible ban after two whereabouts failures.

Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, athletes are expected to pick an exact location for one hour every day in case they are needed for testing.

The Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS), makes it as easy as possible for athletes by enabling them to provide the information online 'from anywhere in the world'.

The system even allows for 'the delegation of this responsibility to an authorised representative such as team manager, agent or other third party'.

Christine Ohuruogu was suspended for 12 months in 2006 after missing three tests

Mo Farah went into London 2012 only one failure away from a possible ban by the same rule

Monaco-based rider Armitstead took full responsibility for her latter two failures in Monday night's statement, which said: 'The October 2015 failure was the result of a filing failure on ADAMS caused by an administrative oversight. Armitstead did not dispute the oversight.

'The June 2016 missed test was the result of Armitstead not updating her whereabouts on ADAMS, having had an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family.'

Armitstead, who plans to marry Team Sky rider Philip Deignan next month, is an outstanding cyclist, finally realising her potential last autumn when she won the world road race title with a stunning victory in Richmond, Virginia.

This season she has managed to race to six victories already, despite taking the whole of May off to work on her climbing in preparation for the hilly Rio course.

The Olympic silver medallist admitted it 'had been an extremely difficult time'

She will look to go one better than in London in the race in Rio on Sunday