"He's the opposite of Jonas Vingegaard" - Jonathan Vaughters complements 'unbelievably gifted' Richard Carapaz

Jonathan Vaughters has complained about the UCI points in a recent interview, but also complemented the style of racing of his team and riders. Amongst them Richard Carapaz who was a top GC rider in the past... But the Ecuadorian showed at the Vuelta a España that he can still do it, after chasing for stage wins earlier in the season.

He scored a bunch of UCI points that are vital for the team to stay afloat in the World Tour, but in words at Rouleur Live Vaughters says that he does not wish to put this pressure upon his rivals. "I never want to see us get into that position again because I like to race all-or-nothing. And the riders that we have, such as Ben Healy or Richard Carapaz, are guys that also like to race all-or-nothing".

"Richard is the most talented rider I've ever worked with. He's unbelievably gifted but he's a bit of a wild horse. I would say he's anything but the very programmed, very focused, studious sort of athlete that we're seeing competing at the top level right now - the very mechanical and robotic".

The team has nowhere near the firepower to match others during the mountain days at the Grand Tours, but with good planning they've managed to put their men to good use at the Vuelta at the service of Carapaz. Elsewhere, the explosive climber followed his own ambitions whilst also giving the team freedom to chase results of their own.

"He's the opposite of Jonas Vingegaard, someone who is watching his diet and watching what he's doing training 365 days a year," Vaughters said of the former Giro d'Italia winner. "Richard comes up to big emotional highs and really performs when he's on that emotional high. And then when he's not, he definitely is not as mechanical and robotic and focused, and he kind of just lives his life, right?"

Whilst there is benefit and spectacle to this kind of racing, Vaughters does understand that Carapaz does not often ride to the best of his possibilities, due to the lack of the focus that other teams put on performance. "So with him, you have to realize that that while sometimes it's frustrating that his full, true potential and talent doesn't always come out, but that that's just who he is as a person, and you've got to work around it and figure out, you know how to bring the best of him out. He's got to want it first, I can't force him."