Ecuador's sports secretariat has confirmed that Richard Calapaz (Team Ineos) will return to Europe next week on a direct flight from Quito to Spain before resuming his season at the Vuelta a Burgos later this month.

The 2019 Giro d'Italia winner will travel to Spain on July 15 with compatriot and Ineos teammate Honatan Narvaez.

The same authorization has been given to three other Ecuadorian riders, Alexander Cepeda (Androni Sidermec), Alveiro Cepeda (Caja Rural Seguros RGA) and Jonathan Caicedo (EF Pro Cycling), on July 21 and 22, respectively, Ecuador to Spain on the 28th.

Previously, it was envisioned that Carapaz and his companions would travel overland to Colombia, go through a 14-day quarantine period, and then fly to Europe on a charter flight organized for Colombian professionals. According to the sports secretariat, the Ecuadorian athletes would not have to undergo a mandatory quarantine period upon arrival in Spain.

"We applied for a humanitarian flight from Colombia and began discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help the cyclists, but when we realized that time was running out, we contacted the team's technical director to explore other options," said Miguel Randazuri (opens in new tab).

"Fortunately, thanks to our efforts, we were able to get a direct flight from Quito to Spain with the permission of the Spanish Embassy.

Calapaz has only raced once since joining Ineos from Movistar ahead of the 2020 season, finishing 30th overall at the Tour Colombia 2.1 in February.The 27-year-old Calapaz then left for Europe, but his cycling season was interrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic He returned to Ecuador in March when the cycling season was interrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Despite revisions to the UCI calendar, the Giro d'Italia remains the center of Carapaz's season. He will not join the Ineos team for the Tour de France, but will ride the Vuelta a Burgos (July 28-August 1), the Tour de Pollogne (August 5-9), and the Tirreno Adriatico (September 7-14) before heading to Corsa Rosa.

The rescheduled Giro will be held October 3-25 and will feature Carapaz, Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Remco Evenepoel (Detunink-Quick Step), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Peter Sagan ( Bora-Hansgrohe), among others.