"The truth is I’m very happy" despite loosing Giro on the penultimate day, Richard Carapaz assures

Richard Carapaz was one of the biggest favourites for the Giro d'Italia win, and until the 20th stage it very much seemed to be the most likely scenario. However, a three week race is very complex and the INEOS Grenadiers leader had to settle with second place.

However, despite not being able to celebrate the GC win on his birthday, Carapaz remained very positive: “I don’t feel sad. The truth is I’m very happy. Over the years I’ve been a pro, I’ve shown I can be at the highest level and this was no exception. Personally, I’m very, very, happy because it’s a great second place in the Giro d’Italia."

INEOS Grenadiers rode in control throughout all the mountain stages in the first week, and Carapaz then took over the race lead in Torino on the second week. He never had a significant gap to Jai Hindley, however the final time-trial favoured him so Carapaz was in pole position. He wasn't afraid to go on the attack despite his pink jersey, however he didn't have the legs to match the Australian on the final mountain stage - having lost contact with the eventual race winner on the Passo Fedaia.

“Only one rider can win, so I make do with second place. While I’m still around, I'll keep trying to win. The most important thing is that I marked my birthday doing what I love most," he added.

“The whole race was very hard and very competitive," he said. He also explains that stage 20 was the crucial day in the race, where he failed the test: "It wasn’t my day, and that’s the small thing that made the difference. Today, I was where I needed to be, but in the end Hindley won, so congratulations to him."

“There are many things that I have to keep working on... You win and you lose. The truth is, this isn’t a bad thing. This will give me strength to come back again. Now I have a second objective: the Vuella but first I need to have a break," he concluded.