Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong has thanked world cycling officials for clearing him to return to the professional peloton in the Tour Down Under in January.
Race officials have also declared the ruling a commonsense decision after concerns were raised that anti-doping regulations might delay the Texan's comeback plans.
"I am pleased and thankful with the UCI decision handed down today," Armstrong said in a statement after the world governing body's move to allow him to compete in January.
"I look forward to my return to racing at the Tour Down Under and more importantly I am excited to get to Adelaide to begin our global cancer campaign."
After announcing his comeback would start in Adelaide, doubts were raised when it was revealed Armstrong would not be subject to drug testing for the full six months required under UCI rules.
A strict application of dope testing provisions would not have allowed the 37-year-old, seven times Tour de France champion to compete until February 1, 2009, six months after he filed paperwork with the US anti-doping agency.
But the UCI said Armstrong could return early because its drug-testing standards had improved since the rule was drawn up four years ago.
"Riders are now subject to a much-reinforced system of monitoring compared to that of the past," the governing body said in a statement.
"Lance Armstrong has and will be the subject of very strict monitoring throughout the period running up to his return to the peloton."
A relieved Tour Down Under race director Mike Turtur said the decision had ended a stressful wait for race organisers and the entire cycling community in Australia.
"It's been a great decision based on good facts," he said.
"By the time the tour comes around the UCI has clearly stated that the information they require will be more than sufficient.
"The information (collected) regarding Lance Armstrong will probably more than any competitive cyclist in the peloton at the moment."
Armstrong's comeback is meant to draw attention to his global campaign to fight cancer, a disease he famously survived before winning seven straight Tours from 1999-2005.
It is also a defiant stand against critics who doubt he could have achieved those victories without the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Now he is liable to be tested at any time without notice and will have his own biological passport as part of a UCI-backed scheme to monitor possible doping offences.
Riders must give a series of blood and urine samples which allow a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory to measure abnormal fluctuations in body readings.
The American said last month he was tested in late August, and has enlisted a personal anti-doping expert in Don Catlin, who will make his test results available to the public.
Turtur said despite Armstrong's critics the facts surrounding his racing career spoke for themselves.
"He's never produced a positive test and none of the riders that have been part of his team for that seven-year period on the tour have ever returned a positive test," he said.
"Speculation will always be there, but how you deal with it is up to the individual."
