After starring at the Tour de France earlier this summer in a stage hunting and King of the Mountains role, Richard Carapaz was back competing in a general classification capacity at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana. Despite a bright and strong performance, the final podium eluded the Ecuadorian as he finished 4th overall.
Nevertheless, Carapaz leaves the Spanish Grand Tour with a very good feeling and much satisfaction at his performances over the last three weeks. "The Vuelta has helped me find myself again, working with a team, leading a team," he reflects post-race to the official website of the EF Education-EasyPost team. "It was wonderful. From the start in Portugal, my teammates have been there for me every moment."
"I have a lot of emotions right now, finishing the Vuelta. I'll approach my goals next season humbly, knowing there will be great moments and also knowing that the team has my back for the Grand Tours," Carapaz adds. "I’m happy with this result and happy that we grew every day as a team."
The key factor in Carapaz's success according to the man himself, was the teamwork within the EF Education-EasyPost squad in Spain. "They worked so hard for the whole Vuelta, and I’m super happy with that. This is a solid result for me and for the team. We showed the character that makes the difference and makes the team stronger. It meant a lot to have my team there for me in the front," says Carapaz. "Also the staff– they have been there for us for three weeks."
One of those aforementioned teammates, was the Brit, James Shaw. "It has been the hardest grand tour I've done. The climbing has just been brutal. I picked up a slight illness in the second week and I was pedalling squares from that point on. There was not much I could do. I just committed myself solely to the big RC and did what I could," Shaw says. "I´m proud of myself for what I've done, but even prouder of Richie for what he's achieved, not from a result point of view, but more from where he's come from and the storm he has gone through over the past few years. I think he's got the belief back that he's going to be a grand tour winner again. With any luck, I will be in the race with him the day that he does it."
“We showed the character that makes the difference and makes the team stronger. It meant a lot to have my team there for me in the front.“ - @richardcarapaz This team raced hard and with heart from Lisbon to Madrid. Gracias por todas las emociones 🫶 efprocycling.com/racing/richard…
