Fernando Gaviria - who experienced a breakthrough season with impressive performences in the Tour de San Luis which secured him a contract with Etixx – Quick-Step, and more recently in the Tour of Britain – has been ruled out of the UCI Road World Championships due to a knee injury.

The 21-year old Colombian sustained a knee injury at the Tour of Britain, but he had managed to claim his first victory as a part of the Etixx – Quick-Step team before the incident occured, beating seasoned sprinters in likes of Andre Greipel or Elia Viviani in a process. Not to mention his team-mate Mark Cavendish.

Gaviria would be the one of the strongest candidates to take a victory in the U23 World Championship road race next Friday, but Colombia coach Carlos Mario Jaramillo ruled out a possibility of his participation in the event.

"For the past week we’ve had a lot of bad news…riders with illnesses, injuries, low on resources. Fernando injured himself at the Tour of Britain and has not been able to recover," said Colombia coach Carlos Mario Jaramillo.

"Today he called us and told us no – that the doctor told him that it is still inflamed, so it’s better to stop for a while."

Gaviria will be replaced by Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui, while Jonathan Restrepo is expected to take over the leadership in the team.