MADRID, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Richard Carapaz, the winner of this year's Giro de Italia (Tour of Italy) cycle race will not take part in the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain), his Movistar team confirmed on Thursday.
Carapaz was one of the big favorites to win this year's Vuelta, which starts in Torrevieja (eastern Spain) on Saturday, and his loss means Movistar will now have to decide whether Nairo Quintana or the veteran Alejandro Valverde is now their main rider for the overall classification in the three-week long race.
Movistar confirmed on their official website that the "Ecuadorian rider suffers from a significant contusion in his right shoulder, as well as several bruises, after a crash sustained in the Profronde van Etten-Leur criterium in the Netherlands, last Sunday."
Jose Joaquin Rojas will replace Carapaz in the Movistar team for the race.
This year's Vuelta is already without last year's winner, Simon Yates, who rode in both the Giro and the Tour de France, while other big name riders such as Tour de France winner, Egan Bernal and Chris Froome (who is still recovering from injury after a bad fall in June) will also miss the Spanish race. Enditem
