"That’s the goal here, allowing people to grow" - INEOS expecting Carapaz and van Baarle to perform at Vuelta, eye future leades

The transfers of Richard Carapaz and Dylan van Baarle to EF Education-EasyPost and Jumbo-Visma respectively were known already for some time, but their official reveal in the same day as the Vuelta started brought the topic back into the spotlight. INEOS Grenadiers' Rod Ellingworth commented on the topic.

“Richard has been fabulous for us, with three podiums at three Grand Tours and he’s Olympic champion, too, got a fantastic personality and always brings a lot of support from Ecuadorian fans," Ellingworth said in an interview with Cyclingnews. “He’s got a nice story and we’ve enjoyed working with him, and I hope he goes away having learned a lot with the team".

The Ecuadorian has been a team leader for INEOS since joining in 2020, and has had incredible success ever since. He's currently leading the team's ambitions at the Vuelta a Espana where he is targeting the win. The British team will protect him, and are clear that they expect both him and Dylan van Baarle to perform until the end of the year.

“So he’s leaving it with the best will in the world on both sides. But it’s a business and we’re moving forward with the team. We’re still very ambitious and you’ve sometimes got to make way for different people," he addmited. "Full GC ambitions and we’ll back him all the way. He’s an Ineos Grenadier right until December 31". Carapaz took a tumble on stage three, however emerged relatively unscathed and will head into Spain in a strong position on the overall classification.

“It’s the same with Dylan. He’s been brilliant with us, and that win in Roubaix was phenomenal for us. But going where he is going, I get it. It just makes sense. Given how passionate we felt about this team as a British team, I understand his transfer. And when you’re a Dutch team and you’ve built it like they have, then fair play to him," he said regarding the Dutchman who's racing his second consecutive Grand Tour, as one of the team's most experienced, versatile and important riders. The transfers however will give the team the means and space for it's young talents to develop, which the team's performance manager emphasizes.

“We’ve got plenty coming through. Just these last few weeks, we’ve had Magnus [Sheffield] doing so well in Denmark, Pavel [Sivakov] in the Vuelta a Burgos, Ethan [Hayter] in Poland, and Tom winning the Europeans MTB and going back that bit further, winning in Alpe d’Huez. That’s the goal here, allowing people to grow," he said.