Richard Carapaz will miss the elite men’s road race at the 2026 world championships in Montreal after deciding his health needs to come first. The Ecuadorian was expected to play a key role for his national team after a strong Grand Tour season, but medical staff and his team determined that racing was not the right choice.
The veteran climber has shown he has the form that has seen him take some big wins in his long career, including gold at the Olympics, the 2019 Giro d’Italia, and multiple stages of the Tour de France and Vuelta A España.
“The most responsible thing to do is to put my health first and opt for a calm recovery, to avoid putting the rest of my career at risk,” Carapaz said on social media.
Jhonatan Narváez remains on Ecuador’s lineup, with Jonathan Klever Caicedo taking the second spot for the team.
Other last-minute withdrawals
The news follows another big star withdrawing from the road worlds, Danish ace Mattias Skjelmose. The climber and puncheur was expected to co-lead with former world champ, Mads Pedersen.
“I had to tell Michael Mørkøv, the former pro and Denmark’s national coach, about an hour ago that I have to pull out because my body can’t take any more,” Skjelmose told TV 2 Sport.
Meanwhile, Osgoode, Ont.’s Derek Gee-West has pulled out of Sunday’s time trial and the mixed relay.
“Unfortunately, the ribs didn’t make it out of the crash at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in one piece, so I won’t be lining up for the individual time trial or the mixed team relay. I’ll do everything I can to line up next Sunday for the road race in the best shape possible in front of the home crowd, and can’t wait to see the Canadians rip it up across the rest of the events,” the Lidl-Trek rider said in a statement.
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