Richard Carapaz will try to blow up the Vuelta a Espana in the last week: "He has nothing to lose"

Tuesday, 03 September 2024 at 11:30

Juan Manuel Gárate, EF Education-EasyPost's sport director at the Vuelta a España 2024, talked about Richard Carapaz's goals between now and Sunday's arrival in Madrid. It includes victory and the American team is willing to risk it all for the triumph.

He again made it clear in the diario AS, as they have been doing since the beginning, that the goal is not to win any stage but to try to finish as high as possible in the overall with the Ecuadorian:

"We are not looking for breakaway protagonism, nor partial victories, we simply want to focus all our efforts on Carapaz."

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After what they achieved at the Tour de France (stage and mountains jersey), he is clear that in the Vuelta they will continue to risk as in the Granada stage to try to finish on the podium:

"Really, and with what he already has on his resume, he has nothing to lose. It's been a good year, but I've never seen a rider like him, with that determination to fight for something until the end when it gets into his head. He has a very competitive character, and when a rider sees that his legs are getting sore, that he's tired, he maintains that ambition at all times, no matter what".

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A different kind of cyclist

He is clear that Carapaz is a different kind of cyclist from those who make cycling more attractive to fans:

"If all the riders were like Richard... cycling would be, let's say, a little crazier. A spectacle. We saw it in the Granada stage. He was getting screams from the people, and that's what brave cycling is all about. Knowing him, he's not going to sign for third place, because he's going to want to go for the win. We'll see.

We'll see what ends up happening. Before facing the Lagos de Covadonga Carapaz is fourth in the general classification at 2:44 behind leader Ben O'Connor and only 21 seconds behind Enric Mas in third place on the podium at the moment. He is 1:41 behind second-placed Primoz Roglic and 17 seconds behind Mikel Landa.

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Week two of the Vuelta has finished 🤯 Kick back and relax with us on this final rest day as we look back at our favorite photos from this past week! View the full gallery: efprocycling.com/culture/vuelta…