Mark Cavendish defended pro cycling, saying, “It's not fair to say it's a dirty sport.” It is time for the public to realize that the sport has moved on and is far more than its past doping stories, the former world champion said.

"Everyone knows what cycling was like in the past, and now cycling is getting tarnished again because of the past. If you put the time, effort and money into catching the cheats then you will do it. Cycling does that and cycling brings up stuff from the past to do it,” he told Sky News.

Cycling is now moving forward, “but (some) people won't let it because there are cynics and people with closed minds and there is going to be stuff which comes up from the past.

"It's not fair to tarnish the riders who are doing it now with a brush they don't deserve to be tarnished."

The Sky rider also praised the cycling community for its anti-doping work. "If you put the time, effort and money into catching the cheats then you will do it. Cycling does that and cycling brings up stuff from the past to do it.”

This shows “they wanted things to change and they still want to things to be better in the future,” Cavendish said