"I want the Maglia Rosa back" - Fighting talk from Richard Carapaz ahead of Giro d'Italia return in 2025

In 2025, Richard Carapaz heads towards an early major goal, the Giro d'Italia. A winner of the Italian Grand Tour back in 2019, the Ecuadorian leader of EF Education-EasyPost is determined in his aim of reclaiming the Maglia Rosa.

"I really like the Giro route, especially the third week," previews Carapaz in quotes collected by Bici.Pro. "It's really tough, with long climbs, and I'm convinced that we will fight for the title. After all, we've already done well there! In addition, I think that this year my EF Education-EasyPost team is a very solid one, and that's one of the factors that can help me win the Giro again. Yes, I want the pink jersey back. I dream of bringing it back to Ecuador."

According to EF Education-EasyPost's Spanish sports director, Juan Manuel Garate, Carapaz is also heading into the new campaign with his best form within touching distance. "I think that Richard has had the best winter since he has been with us. He has never had any health problems, he has always trained and his condition has been on the rise. He has had a really solid winter," Garate explains. "As for the rest of his journey, our goal is the Giro. And everything, even Liège, revolves around this. Even the decision not to do any reconnaissance, at least directly with the rider. Nowadays, most of the time when you go to see a mountain stage, you find a closed pass. So you get back in the car, you move to the other side of the valley, you get back on the bike... In the end you see and you don't see."

With his pre-Giro calendar including Etoile de Bessèges, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya and the aforementioned Liege-Bastogne-Liege, key to Carapaz's preparation will also be altitude camps. "After Catalunya we will go on a training camp in Sierra Nevada," Garate explains. "Maybe Richard could return to Ecuador. If everything goes well, coming down from the heights, doing Liège and then the Giro would be the best. But if the Belgian classic were to interfere with the optimal preparation for the Giro, we will have no problem skipping it."