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London - Britain's Simon Yates has been given a four-month ban that will see him miss the Tour de France after he failed a drugs test in March, the International Cycling Union said on Friday.
A month later his Orica-GreenEdge team said it was their fault that they had not gained a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) certificate after he tested positive for terbutaline, which is used to help alleviate asthma symptoms, during the Paris-Nice race.
The Australian team had kept the 23-year-old Yates out of competition since then and in the hope their rider would be cleared in time for the start of the Tour de France on July 2.
But Yates's ban is deemed to have started on March 12 and will expire at midnight on July 11.
Shayne Bannan, the general manager of the Orica-GreenEdge team, said in a statement: "Simon has been given a four-month sanction by the UCI given the administrative error in not having a required TUE for his asthma inhaler at Paris-Nice.
"The team has taken full responsibility for this all along and we look forward to seeing Simon back racing.
"It has been an unfortunate break due to circumstances that Simon cannot be blamed, but above all we are happy that it has now come to a conclusion.
"Simon has been training well and we welcome him back on the roster for a strong second part of the season."
The length of his ban means Yates, from Bury, north-west England, remains available for selection in the British team for this year's Olympic road-race event in Rio.
Nicole Sapstead, chief executive of United Kingdom Anti-Doping, said: "The case of Simon Yates serves to highlight that all athletes are responsible for what is found in their system, regardless of how it got there.
"In relation to medications, all athletes need to take personal responsibility for what they are being given, even when prescribed by a doctor."
