Olympic road cycling champion Richard Carapaz won’t be able to defend his title at the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024.
On Monday (27 May), Ecuador’s national cycling federation announced that Jhonatan Narváez will their only representative for both the road race and individual time trial.
“This time it was not possible for me to be the representative at the Olympic Games,” Carapaz said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“I want to wish good luck to Jhonatan, I wish him the best to represent us in the best possible way.”
At Tokyo 2020 the pair were teammates, with Narváez finishing 46 places behind his compatriot at the delayed Games.
However, the change in criteria this time means that only one rider can take part in Paris 2024.
27-year-old Narváez has just completed the Giro d’Italia, where he finished 28th overall after winning the first stage.