Former Olympic champion Richard Carapaz will miss this year’s Vuelta a Espana as he is yet to fully recover from an illness, the Ecuadorian confirmed on Tuesday.
Carapaz, second in the 2020 Vuelta, also missed the Tour de France with the same gastrointestinal illness and has not raced since finishing third overall at the Giro d’Italia in May.
“After the illness I had, I had to stop several times as I couldn’t train for more than two or three days at a time,” Carapaz said in a EF Education-EasyPost team statement.
“Now in Ecuador, I’m trying to get back to normal with training and continue moving forward with what we had planned. I’m almost fully recovered now.”
Carapaz, who won the road race gold medal in Tokyo, said his season focus was now the world championships in Rwanda.
“Now, the next goals we’ve set are the Italian classics, especially Il Lombardia, and also the world championships in Rwanda,” Carapaz said. “It’s a very special world championship for me, where I have a big opportunity, and I want to prepare for it the best way possible.”
The world championships are being held in Kigali from September 21, the first time the event has been staged in Africa.
