FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 16 - Passy to Combloux - France - July 18, 2023 Ineos Grenadiers' Egan Bernal in action during stage 16 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
(Reuters) - The Colombian Cycling Federation (FCC) announced on Thursday that cyclist Egan Bernal will not be taking part in the Paris Olympic Games because he did not receive permission from his team, Ineos Grenadiers.
Bahrain Victorious team rider Santiago Buitrago will replace Bernal, who won the Tour de France in 2019, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so.
"Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), who was selected for the Olympic Games in Paris and is due to start the Tour de France on Saturday, has not received authorisation from his team to take part in the Olympic Games," the FCC said in a statement.
Buitrago, 24, won the fourth stage of Paris-Nice, finished second in the Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana and fifth in the Fleche Wallonne. He also won two stages of the Giro d'Italia, the 2022 and 2023 editions, and the 2022 Vuelta a Burgos.
Following his participation in the Tour de France, he will join the Colombian national road team alongside Daniel Felipe Martinez from team Red Bull–Bora Hansgrohe in the competition that will take place in the Parisian capital on Aug. 3.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese)
