Gracie Elvin believes cycling world champion Lizzie Armistead is clean and deserves to race in Rio

AUSTRALIAN cyclist Gracie Elvin believes current world champion Lizzie Armitstead is clean and deserves to race in Rio after successfully appealing a two-year ban.

MULTIPLE Australian cycling champion Gracie Elvin believes current world champion Lizzie Armitstead is clean and deserves to race in Rio on Sunday after the British star successfully appealed against a two-year ban for missing three drug tests in a 12-month period.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport last week determined that UK drug testers had not made sufficient effort or followed correct protocol to contact Armitstead while she slept in a hotel in Sweden in August, 2015.

Armitstead has accepted responsibility for the other two strikes – which she said happened because of administrative errors in documenting her whereabouts in October, 2015, and June, 2016 – but avoiding the third strike means she will be on the start line as one of the favourites in the women’s Olympic road race at Copacabana on Sunday.

Elvin said she believed in Armitstead but was disappointed that her sport had been dragged through the mud.

Gracie Elvin and Rachel Neylan during a press conference at Ipanema Beach before the start of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil. Picture. Brett Costello

“We’re all quite shocked and to be honest a bit disappointed how things have happened in the last few days,” Elvin said.

“We all take the utmost care and responsibility with our whereabouts and we try to never make mistakes like that, and those were big mistakes.

“We really hope things are carried out fairly with all athletes, it’s not great for our sport to have that happen this week but we’re hoping to move forward and keep doing what we’re doing the right way.

“We like to think that women’s cycling is a clean sport, I think she’s made her mistakes and is definitely copping a lot in the media now, I think she did the wrong thing but I’d still like to think she’s a clean athlete and we’re all competitive with her so that’s a good thing.

“Unfortunately things get blown up in the media and even if she is a clean athlete, which we believe she is, it’s not a great look for our sport so that’s why we’re disappointed.”

Lizzie Armitstead won her appeal against a possible ban

Elvin’s teammate Rachel Neylan said the Armitstead news was not a distraction just four days from the race.

“It’s not something we’re focusing on, it’s happened, it’s in the media, we’re fully focused on our race on Sunday so it is what it is, but we’re not pouring too much emotion into it,” Neylan said.

After choosing to miss the Cycling Australia reconnaissance trip to Rio in May in favour of a mid-season break, Elvin finally got her first look at the course yesterday when she went training with Neylan, Amanda Spratt and Katrin Garfoot.

“I’ve seen a lot of video and I’m lucky the Australian team has taken a lot of time to get data and footage so I still feel like I’m prepared,” she said.

“I think today is more about getting the feel for road surfaces and picking points in the course to remember that are crucial for us.”

Originally published as Gracie Elvin believes cycling world champion Lizzie Armistead is clean and deserves to race in Rio