Ecuador takes only Narváez to World Championships despite having six spots available

The Australian World Championships will be of great benefit for the local cycling scene, however the big travel schedules and expensive trips have seen many countries unable to take their best riders to the race, and in Ecuador's case, only one rider will make the trip for the men's Elite Road Race despite the possibility of taking six.

That will be Jhonatan Narváez, who will be Ecuador's sole rider in the main event. The team, mostly via the points acquired by Richard Carapaz' performances over the last few years, had the opportunity to take six riders. However, only the INEOS Grenadiers rider will be present, alongside Martín López who will have his chances in the under-23 event.

In a declaration to Cyclo21, the Ecuadorian Cycling Federation said that "we regret that we did not use all the places awarded by the UCI, as many of our top cyclists cannot be part of the Ecuadorian team due to physical and/or family problems".

Although the reasons differ, the distance and time that would take for the riders to prepare for the race affects their regular racing schedule, which led to some teams preventing their riders from racing in the Worlds as they look to protect their positions in the World Tour. Narváez however will be an outsider for the race, as he has shown great form this year and in the recent BEMER Cyclassics with a fourth place.