Former world champion Lizzie Deignan believes Chris Froome's salbutamol case has been handled "unfairly" and his reputation has been irreparably damaged – whatever the outcome.
The four-time Tour de France winner is currently under investigation after an adverse analytical finding for the asthma medication - which is not banned outright.
Froome is still waiting to hear the outcome after testing for twice the permitted levels of the substance during the 2017 Vuelta a Espana.
He has not been suspended during the investigation and insists he did not exceed the dosage allowed under his medical exemption.
"He hasn't had a fair process because already people have made up their minds unfortunately, and that is based on not the full story," said Deignan.
"None of us have the full facts of the case, but unfortunately for Chris, his reputation is tarnished and will be forever.
"Whether he's innocent or not, it's kind of irrelevant to some people at this stage. That's because a leak in a legal process should never happen.
"A rider should be protected because inevitably there will be things that happen, grey areas that should be looked at logically, scientifically, and analysed in court, because that's an inevitable part of having asthma and taking an inhaler and I think unfortunately he hasn't had a fair process.
"For me personally, I can see it as a very personal story and understand that it's a very personal thing that's happening to him right now so that's why I would reserve any judgment on it until the courts have made up their mind."
Deignan has first-hand experience having been at the centre of her own drugs-test scandal prior to the Rio Olympics.
She faced a potential four-year ban after missing three tests within a year before a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
During the interview with Sky Sports News' Orla Chennaoui for the podcast, When Orla Met, Deignan criticised the way her own case was handled and the effectiveness of the current system.
"I felt really let down by UK Anti Doping at the time that they didn't publicly defend the fact that I was tested within a day of both missed tests and obviously all my samples have proved negative, I've never doped," she said.
"They, to my mind, should know and understand that I'm a clean athlete and I understand that athletes have to be under a rigorous system but all I needed was for them to say 'we made a mistake, we're an organisation that's totally funded to do this job and we've made a mistake'.
"That would have just changed it for me, you know? But they didn't and yeah, it was just horrendous, just have your character kind of assassinated publicly, it just reflected on me, the way I was brought up, my family you know?
"To be called a cheat publicly when you've done nothing wrong is hard to go through.
"I think that the system is still massively underperforming.
"There are still so many times when I try to update my whereabouts where the system is down, where I can't even upload my data, and yet if I make a filing mistake I'm taken to court, and financially it costs me a serious amount of money that not many athletes will be able to pay.
"I think there's still a long way to go for them to be transparent themselves actually."
The 29-year-old, who won silver at the London Olympics under her maiden name, Armitstead, is married to Froome's Team Sky team-mate Phillip Deignan.
The couple are expecting their first child and it has given the rider a fresh perspective.
"Sometimes I've been frustrated, especially in recent years, that my life is so one dimensional. It works for a certain amount of time but there becomes a point where it's not enough anymore," she said.
"I always thought having a family would be after my career, and it's only when you suddenly become 29, and you're married and you're the oldest person on the team, you're the experienced person on the team and it happens quickly."