World Tour teams are in the middle of the off-season, but in Ecuador a rider who's beaten Richard Carapaz continues to win and impress

Road cycling is currently on hold in Europe, but in South America we've got an interesting Vuelta a Ecuador in which, among other things, we have returned to see Oscar Sevilla win at the age of 50. However, the man who is blowing up the race is not the man from Albacete who has been living in Colombia for years, but a local star who rode unsuccessfully for the Caja Rural subsidiary: Richard Huera.

A native of Sucumbíos, where he was born 25 years ago, he is the star of Movistar, but not of the Abarca Sports team, but of the Ecuadorian Best PC team (formerly named Movistar).

Huera 'made the jump' to Caja Rural in 2020 (he was 21 at the time) like his compatriot Jefferson Cepeda or Venezuelan Orluis Aular, has been slow to shine beyond his incredible victory in the 2022 Nationals over Richard Carapaz, but it seems that in this 2024 he has finally shown his quality as a climber. Thus, he won the queen stage of the Vuelta a Ecuador with finish in Cotacachi with a stupendous performance.

Shining in South America and doing so in Europe today are two very different things, but perhaps this quality triumph, coupled with his victory a couple of years ago at the Nationals, will have some teams lay their eye on the 25-year old who could still make an impact on World Tour or ProTeam level, as several others in the region can.

This year he finished ninth in the Nationals of Ecuador and has achieved victories in Ciudad de Huaca and in the Tour en Alto Club Richard Carapaz. He had outstanding performances in Bantrab and Guatemala as well, and currently does not have a contract for the 2025 season.