Hugh Carthy on disappointing season: "Now we can write this chapter off and really move forward"

Hugh Carthy has finished third and on the podium of the 2020 Vuelta a Espana. For a stage-racer and Grand Tour contender it was a brilliant result, and the proof Carthy could fight for the win at a Grand Tour. Ever since that year however, he's not been able to replicate the same results.

“It's not been a great season," Carthy admitted in an interview with Cyclingnews. "I've had some good results in the Giro, a top ten, and it's a quite strong performance there. It still wasn't what I was after this year, which has been up and down with illness and stuff. So yeah, it's not been a perfect year but I think you sometimes have these years in your career where things don't go too well.”

2021 wasn't a perfect year, finishing 8th at the Giro d'Italia, but he has won the queen stage at the Vuelta a Burgos, giving the Briton some success out of the season. 2022 however did not see the scenario repeat itself.

“I think I'd have want wanted more if I'd been saying in January what I wanted out of the season, but if someone also had said you are going to have a bad year but you're still going to finish top ten in a Grand Tour then I probably would have signed up for that in January as well," he continues.

“To be philosophical about it, it could have been a lot worse, but it could have been better and there is still stuff to take away from it. It's been a bit of a transitional period for the team since the pandemic, with riders leaving, riders coming," he mentioned. With Olympic champion Richard Carapaz signing into 2023, the American team will aim higher at the Grand Tours, where Carthy may play a crucial role.

"It's really changed the dynamic of the team. I think now if we can settle into some consistency the next couple of years and, and find our way again – now with EF still here to stay and all the sponsors here to stay – I think we could really start making some tracks like we were in 2019, 2020 before the pandemic hit hard," he said.

In 2022 Carthy once again focused in the Giro, but would only ride into 9th place in Verona. His build-up to the Vuelta a Espana didn't prove successful, as he failed to fight for a place in the overall classification. “It's been a hard season for everyone, stressful and everyone's performed in a way to sort of get us over the line and keep everything going,” he said. 

The 28-year old looked to save his season at the late Tour de Langkawi, however he was just short of a stage and GC win, coming second to Iván Sosa in the Malaysian stage-race. “So I think now we can write this chapter off and really move forward. The team's in a good position now going into the next three years. I think we can race to different circumstances next year," he concluded.