"It was not forced" - EF Education-EasyPost boss Vaughters said team let Richard Carapaz leave over increased financial constraints
Cycling
EF Education-EasyPost team manager Jonathan Vaughters has confirmed that the team allowed Richard Carapaz to leave, citing increased financial contraints leading to the team with no choice but to allow the Ecuadorian to leave.
It was confirmed last week that the Tour de France stage winner was heading to NSN Cycling Team, leaving the Ameircan setup after four seasons and with still one more season left on his deal.
Vaughters has now confirmed that the move was not forced upon them, and that a hard decision was made amid financial constraints that leaves the team with approximately 15 percent less budget for 2027.
“It was a little bit of a sad situation where our economic resources were stretched to the point that we needed to make some hard decisions,” Vaughters told Escape Collective.
The main financial blow for the team comes in the form of Oatly, one of the title sponsor of the women's team, leaving the setup. Both teams share the same budget meaning that Oatly's departure also affects the men's team.
Vaughters on the team's financial situation
“That’s the first, you know, ping. The second one is just world economics. Our operational costs have gone up a lot, and when you’re a smaller-budget team that hits you a lot harder than it does at UAE.”
Despite efforts across 2026 to secure a new sponsor, EF have to face 2027 with a tighter budget, leading to the decision not to stand in the way of Carapaz departing, which proved a hard but cost-cutting measure.
Comparing the move to the team's - then Team Garmin-Slipstream - attempts to keep Bradley Wiggins before his eventual move to Sky, Vaughters confirmed the team did not fight to hold onto their big name rider.
“When it comes down to like, well, what are the cost centres that you can get rid of? Well, there’s not so many options, right? A very simple option would be to just let your most highly compensated rider leave.
“We willingly let Richie go. It was not forced, it was not a Brad Wiggins situation where we were fighting it tooth and nail."
Read also
Vaughters looks ahead despite big rider exit
Looking forward, EF's budget and now roster strength has taken a hit. For the team manager, he wants to put faith in others who have had less opportunities or hoping to fight back - seemingly pointing toward the arrival of Tao Geoghegan Hart.
The 2020 Giro winner has struggled in three seasons at Lidl-Trek after breaking his femur at the 2023 Giro. He joins the team in his hopes to revive his career.
“Sometimes you just gotta take the gut check and let the big-name rider go and put faith into someone who nobody’s heard of, nobody’s counting on, or everybody has written off,” he said.
“You just have to say, we’re going to take that responsibility, take that risk, and we are going to ignore what public opinion is.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- If the UAE follows Saudi fortunes, a lot of this might actually happen.Jumpyjohn21-10-2026
- Really? And you know this from who?Jumpyjohn21-10-2026
- Obviously speeds have gone up ( partially because only 20y ago, the peleton was often not interested in keeping speed high which nowadays they’re almost forced to accept) but using stage 11 as proof is ridiculous, the wind was a huge factor.Jumpyjohn21-10-2026
- The truth is: "We’ll avoid rushing from race to race" - Remco Evenepoel reveals 2027 focus and what he'll change from this season to avoid the races where Pogi will be.PogiSloFans21-10-2026
- while goofing off with stats, looked at all riders with more than 100 wins. Of these, Delio Rodríguez (1935-1948) won an astonishing 43% of the races he entered, 117 wins in just 271 race days. Never really heard of the guy, beyond lists of Vuelta winners, but nobody else comes close. Maertens and Merckx are around 32%, Poblet and Pogačar at 29%, and that makes for only 5 riders who have won more than 1/4 of the races that they entered.RidesHills21-10-2026
- lackluster transfer market - because they retained all of their best riders.mij21-10-2026
- Saying that the "only thing" he got was the World TT and the Euro championship is amusing - plenty of riders would define their career by just one of those wins. At 26, after 8 seasons, Evenepoel has 81 wins, 13 of which are Olympics (TT/RR), Worlds (4 TT/RR), Euros (TT/RR), Monuments (2 LBL), and a Grand Tour (Vuelta). To pick a non-random comparison, at age 26, Sagan (10 years and a day older than Evenepoel) had 89 of his 121 wins, with 2 Worlds RR and Flanders. If you prefer to compare seasons on the World Tour, after 8 seasons, he had 3 Worlds and a Monument. Yet somehow Evenepoel only wins when the field is weak? Either that's not true, or he has impeccable timing that somehow others aren't able to copy. I am making a statistical point here, and can bring in other riders as well. Using Procyclingstats, Evenpoel has won about 19% of the races he enters. In comparison, Sagan won 11%, Kelly 12%, Van Aert 13%, van der Poel 18%, Hinault 22%, Pogačar 29%, and Merckx 32%. Everyone loses far more than they win, no surprise, and Evenepoel wins a lot.RidesHills21-10-2026
- hah, neat!wrsty21-10-2026
- He also had more than two months away from racing between Liege and the Tour, tho he did start his season in January.Lozza21-10-2026
- Go Pogi! 🤣Lozza21-10-2026
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