Richard Carapaz wins 2026 Tour de France Super Combativity award after two stage victories and polka-dot triumph
CyclingSunday, 26 July 2026 at 15:00
Richard Carapaz has been named the Super Combatif of the 2026 Tour de France, adding another major prize to a race in which he has won two mountain stages and secured the polka-dot jersey.
The EF Education-EasyPost leader earned the award through a combination of the public vote and the Tour jury’s decision. It is the second time Carapaz has been recognised as the most combative rider of the race, following his previous success in 2024.
Two victories crown relentless attacking Tour
Carapaz arrived at the Tour with general classification ambitions but repeatedly placed himself at the centre of the racing rather than protecting his overall position. His attacks across the three weeks eventually produced one of the strongest collections of results anywhere in the peloton.
The Ecuadorian claimed his first victory on Stage 18 at Orcieres-Merlette, attacking from the breakaway with 3.5 kilometres remaining and finishing 45 seconds ahead of Mauro Schmid.
Two days later, Carapaz struck again on the final mountain stage to Alpe d’Huez. He remained in contention after Sepp Kuss moved clear over the Col de Sarenne and capitalised when the American crashed twice during the technical finale, riding on to his second victory in three days.
Carapaz also collected enough mountain points during that demanding Stage 20 route to secure the polka-dot jersey. He will take the classification to Paris with 156 points, ahead of Tadej Pogacar and Valentin Paret-Peintre.
Those victories followed several earlier signs of his form. Carapaz finished third on Stage 3 and eighth on Stage 14, while his repeated presence in the breakaways allowed him to climb steadily through the general classification during the final week.
Richard Carapaz at the 2026 Tour de France
Carapaz repeats his remarkable 2024 Tour
The Super Combativity award and mountains jersey recreate two of Carapaz’s biggest achievements from the 2024 Tour de France. He also won a stage during that edition, although his results in 2026 have gone considerably further.
Carapaz is set to complete the race in eighth overall, provided he safely reaches the finish in Paris. That would represent his second-best Tour de France general classification result, behind the third place he secured in 2021.
His polka-dot success is also the third Grand Tour mountains classification of his career. In addition to his two Tour triumphs, Carapaz won the equivalent jersey at the 2022 Vuelta a Espana.
Two stage victories, the mountains classification, a place inside the overall top 10 and the Super Combativity award leave Carapaz with one of the most complete records of the 2026 Tour. Pogacar will take the yellow jersey to Paris, but few riders have shaped the racing as consistently as the Ecuadorian.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Tadej wins every stage and he is an egotist. The breakaway goes up the road and a rider that he has over 7 minutes on, and he doesn’t react, and this headline. can’t win either way it seemsmij26-07-2026
- I know, they use such b.s. headlines. I saw that and assumed he got deathly ill overnightmij26-07-2026
- I watched the whole Tour on SBS and totally agree with you. Bridie is by far the best womens commentator across all the cycling channels. Really impressed with Caleb with his insight into the peleton. No stupid jokes and wrong information like one commentator we know.
Senna196026-07-2026 - Lol yes.Good one!Cyclingsbestfan26-07-2026
- The problem today is that everything is so advanced in teams (with the budget) that the rider hasn’t got a clue what goes on. Nutrition is optimized practically daily to top up what tests show is used up, and that’s just one aspect.Jumpyjohn26-07-2026
- How can you EVER trust someone who never gave an answer to all the many inconsistencies in his stories and didn’t even seem interested in knowing what happened to him when he almost died?Jumpyjohn26-07-2026
- I agree with every word, except probably!MajorPayne26-07-2026
- I agree, he would have probably been third, but we'll never know. Jonas wasn't looking that good, paying the price for doing the Giro, but Remco was getting better by each day.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales26-07-2026
- In an interview, Pogačar made clear why he engaged: Ayuso had too much of an advantage in the break and was moving in on the podium. The team interests came first, when the Tour win was already secure.RidesHills26-07-2026
- And yet, last year with an injured knee, what did he do?RidesHills26-07-2026
Loading
Write a comment