Kalapaz misses Tour of Britain due to visa problems

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Kalapaz misses Tour of Britain due to visa problems

Richard Karapas will not be competing in this weekend's Tour of Britain, as he was unable to travel to the UK due to visa issues.

The Ecuadorian native, who won the Giro d'Italia in May, was scheduled to lead Movistar along with Mikel Landa in the eight-day race.

However, on Friday the team announced that he would not be able to participate in the race because he could not get his visa in time.

"Sadly, despite the Movistar team following all the formalities, Richard Kalapas' visa was not issued in time for him to travel to the Tour of Britain," a statement from the team said.

Héctor Carretero replaces Carapaz as Movistar's sixth team member. Joining him and Randa are Andrei Amador, Carlos Barbero, Eduardo Sepulveda, and Carlos Verona.

Visa problems are the latest disruption in the second half of the season in Calapaz. After returning from a post-Giro rest, he finished third in the Vuelta a Burgos, but missed the Vuelta a España due to a crash in the criterium in the Netherlands.

He returned last weekend at the Bretagne Classic, but will miss eight days of racing at the Tour of Britain. He will need to resolve his visa issues before the World Championships in Yorkshire later this month.

The end-of-season Italian Classics, including Il Lombardia, may be the focus of Carapace for the remainder of the 2019 campaign.

The Tour of Britain begins in Glasgow on Saturday and finishes in Manchester the following Sunday.

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