After being handed a backdated four-month ban by the UCI, Simon Yates has spoken of his regret that the incident where his team doctor forgot to apply for a TUE before giving Yates an inhaler that contained a banned substance has had on his and his team's reputation.

“I would like to apologise to my colleagues for once again casting our sport in a negative light. I am very embarrassed and ashamed of this whole situation but I am determined to move forward,” the 23 year old Brit said in a statement.

His Orica-GreenEDGE team, who have already confirmed that Yates will return at the Tour de Pologne, have expressed their relief that the ordeal of the last quarter of a season is now over.

"It has been an unfortunate break due to circumstances that Simon cannot be blamed, but above all, we are happy that is has now come to a conclusion,” Orica-GreenEdge general manager Shayne Bannan said. "Simon has been training well and we welcome him back on the roster for a strong second part of the season."

Yates says that while the doctor should have applied for the TUE, as an athlete it is his responsibility to know exactly what s going into his body.

"Whilst the medication prescribed was clearly stated on the doping control test form by my team doctor, he made an administrative error by failing to apply for the necessary TUE for the use of this medication. Therefore, I regrettably have to accept the punishment issued by the UCI. Ultimately the responsibility is on the athlete to know exactly what they are taking and what they are putting into their body.”