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London - British cyclist Simon Yates failed a drugs test at the Paris-Nice race in March, with his Australian team Orica-GreenEdge on Friday blaming an "administrative error" during treatment for asthma.
The setback comes with British Cycling already in turmoil over the resignation this week of technical director Shane Sutton, an Australian, amid allegations he used sexist language and made derogatory comments, just months from the Rio Olympics.
British Cycling said world governing body the UCI had informed it of a possible violation and Orica GreenEdge confirmed the rider was Yates and the substance Terbutaline.
"The substance was given to Simon Yates in the form of an asthma inhaler and accordingly, this was noted by the team doctor on the Doping Control Form, signed at the time of the test," the team said in a statement.
"The substance was given in an ongoing treatment of Simon Yates' documented asthma problems."
It said the team doctor made an administrative error by failing to apply for the therapeutic use exemption (TUE) required for the use of the treatment.
"The use of Terbutaline without a current TUE is the reason it has been flagged as an adverse analytical finding. This is solely based on a human error that the doctor in question has taken full responsibility for," the team added.
"There has been no wrong-doing on Simon Yates' part. The team takes full responsibility for this mistake and wishes to underline their support for Simon during this process."
The UCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment but Orica said it was submitting all its evidence to clarify the matter.
The UK Anti-Doping body said its policy was not to discuss cases until a violation was found to have occurred following a legal process.
"UK Anti-Doping does not discuss or disclose details of any cases until due legal process has been completed and an anti-doping rule violation is deemed to have been committed," a spokesperson said.
