Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz led by the EF Education-EasyPost team for number 110 of Tour of Francein what will be his third appearance in the Grande Boucle and eleventh in Grand Toursin which he added the title and three more podiums since his debut at this level in 2017.

Carapaz arrived on the WorldTour in the middle of the 2016 season, when the Movistar team signed him after an internship with the Lizarte team. After an adjustment period, carchense made his Grand Tours debut with a 36th place finish place of general classification in Spain tour 2017.

“I’m ready for a nice adventure” at the Tour de France, says Richard Carapaz

The pay phone put him on the payroll for Tour in Italy 2018 and it did not disappoint. Ecuadorian surprised in the eighth stage and remained with the victory in Montevergine di Mercogliano and was second in stage 19 to finally win overall fourth placesecond in the best younger age category and fifth in the mountain classification.

In the same season, Carapaz repeated his performance in La Vuelta, where he was 18th overall, as a company of personalities such as the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and the Colombian Nairo Quintana.

His maximum success in Grand Tours He achieved this in 2019 when he won the Giro d’Italia title, which he arrived at with stage wins in Frascati (4) and Courmayeur (14). In that edition, the Ecuadorian was the fifth best placed in the category by points and the fourth in the mountain category.

After the victory and the injury caused in the race in which he acted without the consent of the telephone companies, the relationship with the team broke and At the end of the season, the Ecuadorian decided to leave and sign for Ineos.

with the British squadron made his debut at the Tour de France in the 2020 edition. He arrived as support for Egan Bernal, and after the Colombian’s retirement he was free to fight in stages. He was second in Villard-de-Lans (stage 16) and La Roche-sur-Foron (18) to take 13th overall and second in mountain classification.

Ineos decided on a tricolor to fight against Return to Spain and Carapaz returned the trust a Second place overall on the podium. In the stages he was second in Arrate (1), third in Laguna Negra de Vinuesa (3) and second in Alto de Moncalvillo (8).

The Ecuadorian fought for the title until the final stage and he was 24 seconds behind Slovenian Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), which built its victory on the basis of bonuses received during the test. A good game by Carapaza left him second in points and third in the mountains.

Podium at the Tour

Carapaz returned to Tour of France as leader of the Ineos Grenadiers, he was third in Saint-Lary-Soulan (stage 17) and Luz Ardiden (18), climbing to third place on the podium and join a select group of riders in the history of world cycling (20) to write their name among the best of the three UCI WorldTour Grand Tours.

A week after running the Tour, Carapaz won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and made his gold debut at Return to Spain; however, the previous attempt at running in France and Japan took its toll, so it abandonment on Spanish soil during phase 14.

In 2022 Carapaz returned to the Giro looking to regain the crown he won in 2019. but had to settle for second place after wearing the pink jersey between stages 14 and 19, but lost out to Australian Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), who won the title by 1 minute 18 seconds over the tricolor.

in The Vuelta a España last season recorded its best performance in terms of the number of stage wins after reaching it first place in stages 12, 14 and 20, with second place on opening day. Carapaz was fourteenth overallhe was eighth in points the best climber in the test, for which he was awarded a white jersey with blue dots.

The Grande Boucle 2023 will be the eleventh appearance of the Ecuadorian cyclist in the Grand Tours and will do so as effective team leader, a team that surrounds Carapaza with experienced people in search of a leading role that has been unattainable for the team in recent seasons. (D)