"One of the stages that I will remember forever" - Richard Carapaz completes career goal with Tour de France stage victory

Winner of stages in the Vuelta a Espana and the Giro d'Italia, what Richard Carapaz was missing to round off his great career was a stage win in the Tour de France. On stage 17 of the 2024 edition of the Tour, he finally he achieved that goal.

"We knew that the classification was very far away for us," assessed the Olympic champion in his post-stage interview, having already spent a day in yellow earlier in the race. "We came with the illusion of winning a stage and today was a very hard day, we always attacked, in the end a big group went away and, nothing, it was one of the stages that I will remember forever."

About his tactics, he says that he knew how to save his strength when the big breakaway was formed, although up to that point it was crazy, and that in the end he knew the details of the climb well and took advantage of it. "I knew I could let myself do in the group that was very big, I let myself do the whole first part and I think I took advantage of my moment very well. I knew the last climb, I had gone over it very well in the morning with the director, I think we did it in a very smart way and it was a beautiful victory."

He has no doubt that the Tour is the best race in the world. "Here in the Tour come the best, that's why it's the best race in the world, each team comes with its best version, with its best men, the competitivity here is very very high, it's the best race because it's the best level."