Giro d'Italia win the goal for Richard Carapaz: "I make no secret of the fact that I am very ambitious"
Cycling
Richard Carapaz is a rider that continues to be very motivated to perform in the Grand Tours and he comes into the Giro d'Italia with high ambitions. The leader of EF Education-EasyPost has had very modest results over the spring, but believes his slow build-up has been ideal towards his return to the Corsa Rosa.
"I missed it so much, I couldn't wait to come back. I asked my team because it's my race. I always have extra motivation. The Giro suits me, my style. I make no secret of the fact that I am very ambitious," Carapaz told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I always start with the ambition to achieve the best. That is to say, to hold the Trofeo Senza Fine aloft one more time".
The 2019 winner faces tough competition, and he clearly outlines Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso as his main rivals for the upcoming month of racing: "Primoz has the best record of all the participants in the grand tours, and Juan has the youth and the talent to think big. They are two great riders and it is up to me to overtake them. I am in good shape, and then the race will put everyone in their place".
Without Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the start line, the race is open and won't have a 'super team' controlling the mountain days, which favours the Ecuadorian's aggressive and explosive style of racing. Naturally, he is also hoping that bad luck doesn't derail another opportunity to finish on the podium of a Grand Tour.
"Sometimes luck was not on my side, like in the 2023 Tour, when I crashed in the first stage and had to abandon. But often I was the main character. Think of the last Tour: a won stage, a day in the yellow jersey, the polka dot jersey and the super combative," he continues. "And in the Vuelta I went for the general classification and finished fourth, less than a minute from the podium. I fought every day and I still have a good taste in my mouth".
Georg Steinhauser, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda and Hugh Carthy will be part of his support crew for the mountains. "I have prepared myself well to be at the top in May. It is first and foremost a personal challenge and if I have ridden a Giro d'Italia three times with great results, I do not want the next one to be an exception. The team supports me 100 percent and I am happy about that. The first twelve days of the race are classics, but the third week will be decisive".
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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