Jhonatan Narvaez has been selected as Ecuador\u2019s sole representative
\n LONDON
\nOlympic road race champion Richard Carapaz will not defend his title at the Paris Games, with Jhonatan Narvaez taking Ecuador\u2019s sole berth, the Ecuadorian Cycling Federation (FEC) said Monday.
\n\u201cJhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado will participate in the road event and the individual time trial,\u201d the FEC said in a statement.
\nCarapaz, 30, the only Ecuadorian to win Olympic gold in road cycling, had slammed the FEC selection rules as \u201cclearly skewed and lacking in the fundamental principles of fairness and sporting equality\u201d.
\nThe winner of the 2019 Giro d\u2019Italia pointed out that, according to the new rule, \u201cpoints are taken into account from January, but the regulation was not published until March, when there was already a difference in points between the athletes\u201d.
\nDespite being sidelined, Carapaz wished good luck to 27-year-old Narvaez, winner of the first stage of the Giro d\u2019Italia earlier this month and among the leaders on several stages.
\nThe two men have known each other since childhood and were team-mates at Ineos for two seasons from 2020 to 2022.
\n\u201cThis time it was not possible for me to be the representative at the Olympic Games and I want to wish good luck to Jhonatan, I wish him the best to represent us in the best possible way,\u201d Carapaz said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
\nAt the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, Carapaz won the road race ahead of Belgian Wout van Aert and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jhonatan Narvaez has been selected as Ecuador\u2019s sole representative LONDON Olympic road race champion Richard Carapaz will not defend his title at the Paris Games, with Jhonatan Narvaez taking Ecuador\u2019s sole berth, the Ecuadorian Cycling Federation (FEC) said Monday. \u201cJhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado will participate in the road event and the individual time trial,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-409442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n