"Being the King of the Mountains means a lot to me" - Richard Carapaz into second leaders jersey of 2024 Tour de France

Having already managed to get himself into the Maillot Jaune early on at the 2024 Tour de France, Richard Carapaz is into another leaders jersey following stage 19 as the Olympic champion took over from Tadej Pogacar in the King of the Mountains classification.

As such, the Ecuadorian will start the penultimate stage in polka-dots and will be hoping he lasts a little longer than the one day he managed in yellow. “Our main objective today was to get the Mountain jersey. My team did a great job to allow me to get into the breakaway on the day and once I was there I fought to get as many points as possible," reflected the EF Education-EasyPost rider in his post-stage interview.

"Once I arrived at Isola 2000 with an advantage, I tried to fight for the stage victory. I was aware that the climb is very tough and I tried to stay as close to Jorgenson as possible," Carapaz continues, but sadly for him, there was the small matter of a rampant Tadej Pogacar coming up from behind. "However, I couldn't... and Tadej came from behind, to take away any chance of victory."

"Anyway, I am very happy with how the day went. This Mountain jersey is a prestigious prize," he concludes. "All riders in my country dream of it because in Ecuador there are many mountains. Being the king of the Mountain means a lot to me. I'm going to try to keep this jersey until the end. It is my great personal goal, and the team is also supporting me a lot to achieve it.”

2024 Tour de France stage 19 results: