Richard Carapaz discussion thread

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Sep 5, 2016
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Tomorrow is a great race, Carapaz can certainly win the GC with a get away ride, Del Toro will have to cover Bernal, Carapaz, Yates and 3,4 others by himself if they jump from far away.. Super risky stage for Del Toro.. If Carapaz goes and blows up, Del Toro has to follow his wheel to witness disaster or anything else..
 
Mar 4, 2011
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Tomorrow is a great race, Carapaz can certainly win the GC with a get away ride, Del Toro will have to cover Bernal, Carapaz, Yates and 3,4 others by himself if they jump from far away.. Super risky stage for Del Toro.. If Carapaz goes and blows up, Del Toro has to follow his wheel to witness disaster or anything else..
Bernal is now too far back and not climbing well enough to be a concern. Definitely will be focused on Carapaz and Yates, and perhaps 1 or 2 others if they get in the break.
 
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Jan 8, 2020
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Tomorrow is a great race, Carapaz can certainly win the GC with a get away ride, Del Toro will have to cover Bernal, Carapaz, Yates and 3,4 others by himself if they jump from far away.. Super risky stage for Del Toro.. If Carapaz goes and blows up, Del Toro has to follow his wheel to witness disaster or anything else..
But so will Carapaz have to cover the others. He's too close to the lead to expect Del Toro/UAE to be solely responsible.
 
Jan 8, 2020
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Gee and Pellizzari are the jokers in the deck.
They won't be allowed a leash though, so it will have to be on strength, ie attacking, for either of them to gain time. Gee, however, seems to be a fighter, not an attacker, while Pellizzari might not want to risk blowing up for a higher result. Carapaz and Yates have nothing to lose, as anything but a win won't make a difference to their legacies.
 
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Mar 4, 2011
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Gee and Pellizzari are the jokers in the deck.
Yup, can’t rule them out. I think we’re seeing the less predictable final stages of a GT in a long time. I know, Roglic final ITT victory over Thomas was dramatic, but there were really just two possible outcomes going into that stage. This time we have many more protagonists still in the hunt. And we’re still not sure who is climbing the best.
 
Jan 8, 2020
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Yup, can’t rule them out. I think we’re seeing the less predictable final stages of a GT in a long time. I know, Roglic final ITT victory over Thomas was dramatic, but there were really just two possible outcomes going into that stage. This time we have many more protagonists still in the hunt. And we’re still not sure who is climbing the best.
Carapaz two attacks that saw him distance his rivals, even if they came back from the Mortirolo one, makes him the strongest climber on paper. But he's not dominant.
 
Apr 13, 2025
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He really misses a stronger team to make the race hard. UAE can just ride the tempo that Del Toro wants. Hope he takes pink jersey tomorrow
Pogacar was in that situation in 2020. Except Rogic was a bigger rival. Jumbo had a monstrous team, and Pogacar was alone and he also was a roockie at TDF. So he always had to be on Roglic's wheel and win when the team wasn't important.

Finestre could be an option because it's a climb where strength can be more important than the team. On that mountain, it doesn't matter if you're on the wheel of your opponent; the one with the most strength can win.

.
 
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Sep 12, 2022
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Finestre could be an option because it's a climb where strength can be more important than the team. On that mountain, it doesn't matter if you're on the wheel of your opponent; the one with the most strength can win.
Yeah Finestre is the last option really, and the gap is quite big. He can’t wait too long with his attack
 
Apr 13, 2025
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In any case, if Del Toro wins, it won't be just because of the team.
He was truly the strongest in the first two weeks, and his team didn't help him much during those days; instead, they held him back because of Ayuso, Adam. Del Toro could´ve a bigger advantage.
If he doesn't collapse tomorrow at Finestre, it won't just be because of the team. Finestre is such a hard mountain that if Carapaz is stronger than him, Carapaz will win.

If Del Toro holds onto the pink jersey tomorrow, it will be because Carapaz isn't as superior to him in the mountains as he seemed on Tuesday, and it could have been a bad day.

We'll find out tomorrow
 
Apr 13, 2021
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Someone needs to give him a. Hell of a pep talk tonight. We are all behind you richie la LOCOMOTURA the gianetti slayer
 
May 29, 2019
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May the best one win, said that, out of most likely overall winners and in general, due to the history and similar, i respect Carapaz a tad more then the others. Biggest problem likely representing lack of a strong team, still, Carapaz can IMHO drop Majka to turn the battle into mano-a-mano. If needed.
 
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Jun 19, 2009
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But so will Carapaz have to cover the others. He's too close to the lead to expect Del Toro/UAE to be solely responsible.
Very astute evaluation as it turned out. I had Carapaz taking advantage instead of actually responding like Del Toro. Both were silly in their stalemate as were their tacticians. A pure waste that would likely still had the same outcome with less time loss. Yates pulled one out and regained much respect.
 
May 29, 2019
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Gave it all and beyond so no shame in that. The way del Toro chose to ride was mostly to eliminate any chance of Carapaz succeeding and some disappointment over that on Carapaz side is justified.

Still, chapeau!
 
Oct 30, 2023
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Anyone else bothered by the way he rode? When he let Simon up the road I thought for sure the tactic was to attack del toro with intent to bridge to Yates. Instead he just sat on the wheel and shipped away his podium position
 
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Jul 7, 2013
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Anyone else bothered by the way he rode? When he let Simon up the road I thought for sure the tactic was to attack del toro with intent to bridge to Yates. Instead he just sat on the wheel and shipped away his podium position

7 w/kg attack in the first kilometer of maybe the hardest GT climb wasn't the smartest move. Yates didn't burn his legs like that at the start of the climb.
 
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Apr 13, 2025
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Today I see more clearly that Carapaz made a huge mistake.

You can't criticize him for his attitude, but you can criticize the lack of intelligence of a 32-year-old cyclist with his experience.

Simon was at the same distance from Carapaz as Carapaz was from Del Toro. And he attacked as if his situation was like the one at Tour 2022, with Geraint Thomas third, five minutes behind, and he didn't matter.

Yesterday, the criticism focused on Del Toro, who was horrible, and the UAE, a circus. But once the UAE's mistakes have been discussed, Carapaz and EF were horrible yesterday. Their attitude can only be excused, but they lacked any intelligence.

Carapaz forgot that there was the same gap between him and Simon as there was between him and Del Toro. Anyone watching the stage without knowing the differences would think Simon was five minutes or more behind Carapaz.
 
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