Richard Carapaz discussion thread

[Potomac]

What does he need to do at the tour to justify EF signing him? Podium? Top 5?

 

[Rob5091]

Top 5 would be above expectations, I think. Top 10 yes, but recently he's not been very consistent.

 

[Anderis]

What does he need to do at the tour to justify EF signing him? Podium? Top 5?

Considering the fact that:
- he's done nothing in any race of significance this year so far
- he's probably the best paid rider on the team.
Anything short of overall podium will probably mean he's going to be a pretty bad return for money this year, unless he has a great Vuelta. But I don't have much confidence in a podium finish seeing how he rode this year.

 

[KZD]

I wouldn't be surprised if Carapaz loses minutes in the first week and then shifts to stage hunter/KOM mode like he successfully did at the Vuelta last year.

 

[Rackham]

I wouldn't be surprised if Carapaz loses minutes in the first week and then shifts to stage hunter/KOM mode like he successfully did at the Vuelta last year.

If that happens, he's done as a GC rider. I mean there's no excuse here considering the lack of flat ITT km's. Sure the field is strong but come on, it shouldn't be too hard for Richard Carapaz to stay in contention for a little while, even if it's just for a top 5 finish.

Or, he'll lose some time, Vinge & Pog will stare at each other for reasons, Carapaz will go up the road & he'll win the Tour. That's another scenario.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Carapaz is a classy rider, unless he has unknown issues he will come good.

 

[Pinot's goat]

Top 5 would be above expectations, I think. Top 10 yes, but recently he's not been very consistent.

He has been on the podium of his main target for GC in each of the last 4 years. Top 5 is expected.

 

[Escarabajo]

If that happens, he's done as a GC rider. I mean there's no excuse here considering the lack of flat ITT km's. Sure the field is strong but come on, it shouldn't be too hard for Richard Carapaz to stay in contention for a little while, even if it's just for a top 5 finish.

Or, he'll lose some time, Vinge & Pog will stare at each other for reasons, Carapaz will go up the road & he'll win the Tour. That's another scenario.

I agree on the bolded. Not only that, he is being paid solely to perform good at the Tour. Going stage hunting is not on his main objective. I think he will be good come the mountains.

 

[Pinot's goat]

I agree on the bolded. Not only that, he is being paid solely to perform good at the Tour. Going stage hunting is not on his main objective. I think he will be good come the mountains.

One bad GC attempt would not suddenly mean he is finished as a GC rider after the success he has had. Look at riders like Bardet and Quintana who have had multiple years with struggle to make the Top 10 and then at TDF 2022 they were fighting for Top 5 and their teams were still backing them.

 

[Anderis]

One bad GC attempt would not suddenly mean he is finished as a GC rider

Yeah, I don't get these comments when people want to write a rider off just because he doesn't get a result in one particular race. It's not how it works.

 

[Escarabajo]

One bad GC attempt would not suddenly mean he is finished as a GC rider after the success he has had. Look at riders like Bardet and Quintana who have had multiple years with struggle to make the Top 10 and then at TDF 2022 they were fighting for Top 5 and their teams were still backing them.

You are right and I totally misunderstood the sentence. I meant if he is done with GC, He is not being paid to hunt for stages. He can continue hunting for top tens for all I care, really. Having said that, I think I think he will be good when crunch time comes.

 

[Roku]

Carapaz has always performed much better and been more reliable on GT than on one week races, as opposed to riders like Porte who used to kill it on one week races but then come short (or at least not as good) on GT.

I would not translate his 2023 results into a certainty about being off the podium or Top-5 contention.

 

[staubsauger]

Carapaz always hinted at some shape at the Vuelta a Asturias or Tour de Suisse prior to his main season goal though.

 

[Fantastico]

Carapaz always hinted at some shape at the Vuelta a Asturias or Tour de Suisse prior to his main season goal though.

I know he has been bad in the Dauphiné, but he has won Classic Alpes-Maritimes one month ago (and just one week before the Dauphiné) against riders like Gall and Cristian Rodríguez who had strong performances in the Tour de Suisse and the Route d'Occitanie afterwards. So I wouldn't read too much into his Dauphiné performance.

Could as well be a similar case to Gaudu who was in altitude training before the Dauphiné and only managed to come back into racing shape a few weeks after that according to his recent interview.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

One always underestimates him, probably because he doesn’t look like an athlete, but Carapaz is a phenomenon. Broke his knee cap in the Tour, even finished the stage. Now he already shows big results, this autumn.

We got robbed of Quintana and MAL for nothing, but we still have Carapaz to cheer for.

I became a fan over the years. He might look like an average guy, maybe a snooker or darts player. But he is good as gold…

 

[tobydawq]

One always underestimates him, probably because he doesn’t look like an athlete, but Carapaz is a phenomenon. Broke his knee cap in the Tour, even finished the stage. Now he already shows big results, this autumn.

We got robbed of Quintana and MAL for nothing, but we still have Carapaz to cheer for.

I became a fan over the years. He might look like an average guy, maybe a snooker or darts player. But he is good as gold…

For nothing?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

We got robbed of Quintana and MAL for nothing

You are outdoing yourself here.
I miss when we got robbed of Ricco for nothing.......................................

 

[sam6]

I hope Carapaz has a better year this year. He was one of most consistent GC riders and can be up there with the best. Will also be interested to see how he does in one day races. He is Olympic champion so would like to see him race more and pleases he is doing Strade and Ardennes this year. I think, having grown up on dirt roads in Ecuador, Strade could suit him very well and he could be an outsider there. We saw how Bernal was third there in 2021 and they are similar riders

 

[Salvarani]

I hope Carapaz has a better year this year. He was one of most consistent GC riders and can be up there with the best. Will also be interested to see how he does in one day races. He is Olympic champion so would like to see him race more and pleases he is doing Strade and Ardennes this year. I think, having grown up on dirt roads in Ecuador, Strade could suit him very well and he could be an outsider there. We saw how Bernal was third there in 2021 and they are similar riders

He has done SB before a couple of times.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

I hope (insert name of rider here) has a better year this year.

That is essentially the definition of the CQ game.

 

[Escarabajo]

The issue with Carapaz is that He is a slow starter for the year. He does take it easy at the beginning of the year and builds up towards the objective. He is one of those that targets a race and tries to prepare for that race. Having said that, if He crashes or gets sick then is season lost, unfortunately.

 

[staubsauger]

The issue with Carapaz is that He is a slow starter for the year. He does take it easy at the beginning of the year and builds up towards the objective. He is one of those that targets a race and tries to prepare for that race. Having said that, if He crashes or gets sick then is season lost, unfortunately.

Yeah, I remember when he won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, he only really awaked from the Vuelta Asturias onwards.

This years schedule looks quite intense for Carapaz. With the Ardennes classics included, especially the Amstel Gold Race even. That said, he has ridden a quite similar program in 2021 before he finished 3rd at the Tour de France hasn't he?