EF Education-EasyPost
Strengths:
Richard Carapaz is an Ecuadorian professional road cyclist who currently races for the EF Education-EasyPost team. Carapaz is a former winner of the Giro d’Italia and the reigning men’s Olympic road race champion.
Carapaz turned professional with the Movistar team at the start of the 2017 season and spent three full years on the Spanish WorldTour squad. In 2018 Carapaz won a stage and finished fourth at the Giro d’Italia before returning the following year to win a further two stages and the overall. He is the only Ecuadorian to have won a Grand Tour.
The 2020 season saw Carapaz leave Movistar for pastures new with a three-year deal agreed between the rider and Ineos Grenadiers. In 2020, Carapaz finished second overall at the Vuelta España, before rounding out his Grand Tour résumé with a third place at the Tour de France in 2021. To cap off that stellar season, Carapaz then went on to win gold in the men’s race at the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
In his final season with Ineos Grenadiers, Carapaz finished second in the Giro d’Italia behind winner Jai Hindley, and won three stages and the King of the Mountains jersey at the Vuelta a España. At the end of the 2022 season, Carapaz agreed on a three-year deal to ride for the American squad EF Education-EasyPost.
After winning the Ecuadorian national championships to begin his season, Carapaz's first victory for EF Education-EasyPost came at the Mercan'Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes in May. His ambitions for the second half of the season, however, were derailed by a crash on stage one of the Tour. Nevertheless, by the Italian Classics at the end of the year, Carapaz was showing signs of his best form once again, and is looking towards more success in 2024, with Grand Tours a priority.
We take a look under the hood of one of the best-looking bikes in the peloton, as EF Education-EasyPost eye up the 2024 season with a fresh paint job
Olympic Champion’s bike features a threaded bottom bracket and unique shifters
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