Ilnur Zakarin has confirmed that despite his hopes of competing as an independent athlete at the Rio Olympics, the Russian has now been withdrawn from the road race.

“I got a call last night from Moscow,” Zakarin’s coach, Gumar Zakarievich told chelny-izvest.ru. “Ilnur was removed from the plane at the last minute before it went to Brazil. What can I say? Life does not end there. The Olympics, in his sporting career, can still happen. The most important thing is that he does not stand still, and continues developing his skills as a rider."

Only one rider of the four-man team pursuit, Victor Manakov, has not been pulled from the Olympics, meaning the Russians are really struggling to get a cycling team together.