Although he has not won the Giro, Carapaz has known how to reinvent himself during the campaign
The image that illustrates this article is one of the snapshots of the year: Richard Carapaz crosses the finish line at the top of Marmoladaon the eve of the end of the race, with the certainty that he has just lost the Giro d’Italia.
He is accompanied in the sequence by Davide Formolo, who crosses the finish line right with him, and puts his hand on the back of the pink jersey as a sign of consolation, a consolation that, in that moment of despair, falls on deaf ears.
I had the opportunity to ask Davide Formolo, on the Gobik podcast, about that moment and its meaning.
I came to ask him about the fragility that surrounds cycling and the cyclist, because everything is up in the air and how complicated it is to manage it.
«That’s the thing, we work down to the detail and then everything is subject to anything that can happen on the road.«.
Richard Carapaz’s crisis at the top of the Marmolada was like those single-round matches, after spending the Giro ahead, in the air, and showing his face, he ended up giving up the pledge of his efforts without the option of reply.
The attack of Jay Hindley combined with that incredible rider that is Lennard Kämna was a lot for him when he had the race to play.
There were many voices that spoke of the failure of Richard Carapazas if being second in the Giro could be considered such a thing, as if finishing on the podium in almost all the majors in which you have competed since 2020 was a failure.
Carapaz won the 2019 Giro and has managed to be on the podium in three of the five major events in which he has taken part.
We already know that he did not win this Giro, but he gave what he had and the measure of the end is what he had left in his legs.
When the Ecuadorian began to add victories in the Vuelta a España, a combination of his nose for catching leaks and his instinct to resolve them in his favor, I read the word failure several times again because he was no longer in the pool of possible winners.
Stupefied is not enough, well had just achieved three stage wins on the mountain of the Vueltawith the precision of a surgeon that defines him, and not only that, he helped Carlos Rodríguez in certain passages that were very difficult for the Andalusian, as he had worked for other colleagues on other occasions.
Carapaz is one of the best cyclists in the world in a context of true monsters who leave neither crumbs nor remains.
His running style defines him, but also his track record and statistics with victories that many of the big names would like for themselves.
He won a medium Giro of surprise for some, initially covered by Landa in the team and taking advantage of the obsessive marking of Roglic and Nibali, but just as we noted that victory, we must recognize everything that came after, the realization that that victory had little casually.
I also read that Carapaz has not caught on at Ineos, which is why they let him go.
It depends on what is considered to be successful, if we refer to the team environment, I don’t get involved there, because I’m not in it, if we talk about results, how many Ineos cyclists surpass you in this period?
Tao and Egan… a little more.
In EF there will not be as much discussion about the team’s leadership, especially for the Tour, where Vaughters is focusing with a route so similar to his style.
I never see Carapaz favorite anythingexcept in the last Giro, but I end up seeing him in front almost always, no matter who the rival is, handling himself that way, in the middle of this pack, gathering that record, demonstrating that ambition… everything in itself makes the Ecuadorian a cyclist with which is difficult to handle the word “failure.”
Image: FB of Giro d’Italia
2024-04-27 15:35:08
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