Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) has been cleared of doping charges and is free to race immediately, it was confirmed this morning.

Impey was provisionally suspended last month, just before the Tour de France, after he was found to have tested positive for banned diuretic Probenecid at the South African Time Trial Championships.

The South African, 29, who won the race in February before his positive test, was found to have ingested the substance unknowingly as a result of cross contamination.

And Impey, the first African to wear the Tour de France yellow jersey, admitted his relief at being cleared after a difficult two months.

He said in a statement on his website: “Whilst I never disputed the lab results and the finding, I was put in a very tough position of defending my case due to strict liability.

“That being said, and after already having to go back five months to try find out how this could have happened, I finally was able to prove that this was a case of cross-contamination and I was also cleared of any fault or negligence on my part.

“It has been definitely the hardest two months of my life, it has been a huge financial loss and has been tough on my whole family.

“But I was determined to show that I am clean and that I would never cheat to try get an advantage over my competitors. I am so relieved that this has now been proven.”

At his hearing it was accepted Impey had ingested the substance after buying capsules from a pharmacist, who had handled Probenecid before giving the South African the capsules – contaminating them as a result.

And after his argument of cross contamination was accepted, Impey is relishing his return to the peloton ahead of next month’s World Championships in Ponfederria.

He added: “I am thrilled that I could prove my innocence for all of you who stood by me. I am hoping to return back to racing now, and hopefully compete before the World Championships in September.

“I re-iterate my stance against doping and I will continue to race clean throughout my career. Right now, I am just really happy that I can be a bike rider again and do what I love the most.”

Shayne Bannan, Orica-GreenEDGE general manager, added: “We are extremely happy with the fact that Daryl has been 100% cleared to race and we all look forward to having him back riding for us.

“Daryl is a key rider for the team and we very pleased with how he has handled his case and the process around it. We will reinstate Daryl in our racing roster as soon as possible.”