Richard Carapaz was set to start the Vuelta a Espana as INEOS Grenadiers' sole leader, but a mix of modest form and the announcement that he was departing from the team saw his GC aspirations evaporate in the opening week.
After loosing several minutes on the opening eight stages, Carapaz took to a different strategy on stage nine: “I tried to get into the breakaway. It wasn’t possible, but we had Dylan [Van Baarle] up the road, and he did a great ride for us." Carapaz himself was chased down by Remco Evenepoel early in the day, and later on he lost more minutes which see him fall down to 26th position in the GC, and with no more intentions of fighting for his main goal as stands over 14 minutes away from red.
“We have Carlos in the GC, and he’s a good kid, and he has good legs. We have to take advantage of it," he said after the ninth stage. After Pavel Sivakov started showing signs of weakness and Tao Geoghegan Hart had a badly-timed crash on the day, Carlos Rodríguez stood out as the team's best option, riding a very strong opening week which sees him in fourth place.
“Remco Evenepoel is quite a few steps above the rest. But we all have to continue on, and just do the best we can, even if he is on another level," the Ecuadorian concluded. Stage wins are possible for a rider of his quality, but he will first of all hope for better form in the coming days, and team support will likely be a second priority.
It's another superb ride from young @_rccarlos! He takes a top 10 on the stage to remain in fourth place overall at the second rest day. Unfortunately @taogeoghegan was caught up in a crash on the approach to the final climb and loses time on stage nine.
