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New York Times
14-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Richard Carapaz interview: ‘When I'm at altitude in Europe, I never feel that burden'
'Ever since I was training in Ecuador beforehand, I was open that my goal was to win the Giro,' says Richard Carapaz. 'In that sense, it was the race that we were preparing for. We (EF Education–EasyPost) didn't have the most powerful team, but with the team we did have, we were brave enough to dare to dream. Advertisement 'It was one of the most beautiful experiences. It was the very fact of feeling again, of being plugged in every day to try to win. That itself is something, hey? And well, it's not easy. But it makes me feel alive, because I think that's my essence.' It has been two weeks since the Giro d'Italia, and Richard Carapaz can speak to The Athletic with considered analysis about the events of the past month. His distinctive silhouette animated the race as its most aggressive rider — low on his bike, crucifix poking out from behind a half-undone zip, barely appearing to breathe but for the sheen of sweat. During his fiercest attacks, such as those up to Castelnovo ne' Monti or San Valentino, his torso sways vigorously from side to side, chin still aerodynamically tucked. He resembles Pernell Whitaker evading punches while throwing them himself. Entering the climactic stage 20 as the in-form climber in the race, 43 seconds behind Isaac del Toro, the surprise 21-year-old wearer of the pink jersey, Carapaz was arguably favourite for the Maglia Rosa. In the event, as Carapaz and Del Toro marked each other, British rider Simon Yates surged forward to victory. Carapaz finished third, his fifth Grand Tour podium, and first since 2022. Back in Ecuador, where he is training for next month's Tour de France, Carapaz is proud of the result. Six years after first winning the Giro, the 32-year-old remains on its podium — even if he is still confused over how the final racing day played out. 'I never fully understood why it went that way on the (Colle delle) Finestre,' he says. 'But those kinds of things are difficult to control. When it's not in your hands, it's impossible to change. Everything that was within my reach, or everything I could do as a rider, I did.' Over a 90-minute conversation, Carapaz gives his version of what transpired on the Finestre and discusses his plans for the Tour de France — but to begin to understand the man, how he races and who he is, you have to understand the Ecuadorian highlands. Carapaz was born in Carchi, one of Ecuador's most remote and mountainous provinces, lying on its northern border with Colombia. It provides potatoes, sweetcorn, and spring onions, with its largest settlement, Tulcan, the highest city in the country at 2,900 metres. In an era where the sport's top riders go on altitude training camps to acclimatise, Carapaz is at a natural advantage. But it is uphill still to Playa Alta, his hometown, which is over 1,000m higher than the 2,178m Finestre, the high point of this year's Giro. Advertisement 'When I'm at altitude in Europe, I never feel that burden,' Carapaz says. 'It's something normal. It's maybe a little different to the altitude we have here, because there's humidity in Ecuador — in Europe, the air is drier and better at 1500m. 'But I must be the professional that lives at the highest altitude in the whole peloton. You can see there's a benefit, because it's not the same thing to live at sea level and go uphill to adapt. My family has lived at altitude for five generations — genetically, my body is made to survive 3000m.' But there's more to the mountains than height alone. Two hundred kilometres from Quito, life is harder — Carapaz first picked up a bike out of necessity, rather than dreams of stardom. 'Every sport needs a lot of research, a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice, right?' argues Carapaz. 'It's not purely genetic construction — you can't go out and win a Tour de France like that. You need preparation, proper nutrition, proper work. When I was a kid, I didn't do these sorts of things. 'When I went to school, I rode my bike, but it's because it was easier than walking. I didn't have in my head that I wanted to be Marco Pantani or Miguel Indurain. It was part of daily life.' And life almost got in Carapaz's way. As a 13-year-old, his mother Ana Luisa was diagnosed with breast cancer. 'She had to go and live in Quito for treatment,' says Carapaz. 'The farm was left alone, and so my grandfather and I had to take care of the pigs, the chicken, the cattle. My siblings were at university — I was left in charge.' He rose every morning at 5am, spending an hour and a half milking the family's seven cows by hand. Sometimes, jobs were not done until it was too late to cycle to class. He continued doing these jobs even once his parents returned — on one occasion, Carapaz missed the visit of the man who would become his first coach to his school. Hearing about the opportunity, the teenager raced to join his cycling group the next day. Advertisement 'Certain activities I did, whether you like it or not, also shape your character,' he says. 'That defines a lot of when I am riding, of being fierce, of persevering, and having that beast character when things do not work out to turn the situation around — because it happens here very often, doesn't it? 'Country life is not easy. If your parents work in agriculture, the condition of their crop makes a big difference. That is how I was shaped.' It was a mentality that allowed him to fly. With his mother recovered, and his cycling talent recognised, Carapaz devoured the training and nutrition he needed to turn professional, first cracking South America, and then Europe. Over the video call, Carapaz is wearing a T-shirt from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he won the road race, capturing what was Ecuador's second-ever gold medal. Carchi was to thank for that as well, with the area's humidity mirroring the oppressive summer conditions of Japan. He was strong enough to ride away from the chasers on unfamiliar, flatter terrain. For this season, Carapaz promised EF that he would arrive at the Giro in the best shape of his career. Rather than doing the team's typical training camp in the Sierra Nevada or Andorra, he wanted to remain in Ecuador, taking advantage of his home's natural features. 'This year has been a little different,' he says. 'The team wanted to give me a certain freedom. And being here has always been a plus — I'm a boy who is used to living above 3,000m. But in a certain sense, it's also a commitment to show that I can prepare for the objective just as I have in previous years.' His team quickly had that proof. Entering somewhat under the radar as a general classification (GC) rider, Carapaz realised in Albania that he had good legs — moving into overall contention after winning stage 11, and again taking significant time out of Del Toro on stage 16. Entering the final two mountain days, his director sportif, Juanma Garate, himself a stage winner in all three Grand Tours, addressed the team on the bus, Carapaz having his battered body stretched out by a soigneur at its back. 'We are second in GC, we have the strongest rider in the race, and we have 40 seconds to a rider who is struggling on the long climbs,' Garate said. 'You're not going to find yourself in this scenario much in your career. But you'll remember this for the rest of your life.' Advertisement After a stalemate on stage 19, the 18km climb of the legendary Finestre would be decisive — a climb Carapaz had ridden well back in 2018, with its gravelled slope reminiscent of his local Volcano Chiles, just across the Colombian border. EF hatched a plan. 'We knew we didn't have the best team in the race,' Carapaz says. 'So we had to do a slightly different race — we didn't want Del Toro and UAE Team Emirates to control everything like the day before, when he always had four or five teammates with him. You couldn't move, because they were always in the majority. 'So the plan on the Finestre was to break the race in the first kilometre, to try everything and make them play their cards. To isolate Del Toro was our first objective. And well, we did that, didn't we? There was chaos where Del Toro, me, and Yates were left alone from the third kilometre onwards.' But unable to shake Del Toro, and with the young Mexican unwilling to chase down Yates' subsequent attacks, Carapaz was left in a difficult tactical position as the Visma–Lease a Bike rider soloed away towards overall victory. 'When several days have passed, you can think about everything with a cooler head,' says Carapaz. 'The plan was to show who the strongest was. But Del Toro was obsessed with me. He stayed with me until the last minute. 'Yates had already attacked once, I'd closed the gap for him (Del Toro), and this time Yates had 20 to 30 seconds. I asked Del Toro to help me, but he refused. So my thinking was, 'If you aren't going to work, I'm going to let people go'. If you're the leader of the race, the Maglia Rosa (pink jersey), that's the point that you have to take the lead, because you're the one who's losing the jersey. 'I rode again, when Yates was almost two minutes away, with the idea of cresting the Finestre much closer to him. And we brought it back to 1.20. And that's when Del Toro really had to take the baton. He could have won the Giro, but I don't understand why they didn't make that decision. He became so obsessed with me — that however good he was the day before did not matter. 'In the end, Yates had a teammate (Wout van Aert) in front who helped him a lot. You see, then, that Isaac came and asked me for help. I told him: 'Man, the race is over now. I can't do anything anymore, I'm sorry'.' Despite his frustration with UAE's tactics on the final day, Carapaz still rates Del Toro highly. Advertisement 'He had been in front for many days,' he says. 'For that, you've got legs, you don't need to prove it. I already knew a little about his quality, we raced together last year and he showed a very good level. And in that sense, it showed that there's a replacement of a new generation of talent that is coming from behind. It's been a demonstration of what he can do.' And in a wider sense, this year's Giro was significant as a race animated by Latin American riders. Del Toro and Carapaz both finished on the podium and won stages. Colombian Egan Bernal showed his best form since his 2022 crash, sparking the chaos of the gravel stage to Siena. 'The role of Latin Americans has been clear,' he remarks. 'Everyone has been working for their own team but it has been very important for our entire continent, because we have been the main movers in the race. We all had the same objective to win.' Just over a month from riding into Rome, Carapaz will be on the Tour de France startlist in Lille. Here, the reigning King of the Mountains has been tasked with an alternative brief. 'The Tour is a bit of a different race,' he says. 'In a certain sense, I don't have the team to fight for the overall victory with. You need that for the first 10 stages. So to go for the general classification would be a little absurd. We're going to do things that we can do. 'So our objectives are different. It'll be similar to last year — I'll go for a few stages, for the mountains jersey, which I really like. It's a beautiful jersey. 'And in the end, it's also going to be a bit more fun for me, isn't it? Taking away the pressure of fighting every day for a Grand Tour, I've done that this year. In that sense, it's a little bit better for me, too.'
The Independent
02-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
The Simon Yates lesson that Isaac del Toro must learn from unforgettable Giro d'Italia
One year on from Tadej Pogacar 's demolition job of the competition at his maiden Giro d'Italia, another young climber was having his moment in the sun. The comparisons were inevitable as soon as Isaac Del Toro appeared on the scene: lean, explosive, with a natural gift for spotting his moment, an obvious thrill for racing. But as the Mexican progressed through this Giro d'Italia it felt like the Tadej Pogacar comparisons weighed lightly on his shoulders. The 21-year-old seemed a changed figure from the wide-eyed figure who pulled on the maglia rosa in disbelief on stage nine, at the end of an audacious attack on one of the race's toughest stages, the gravel-dotted run into Siena. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider grew into the race, seeming to grow in confidence and stature with each day in head-to-toe pink. It proved difficult for the likes of Richard Carapaz to dislodge him as he marked every one of his rivals' moves, never missing a beat. He outlasted both Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates, in theory the squad's official co-leaders going into the race. There were echoes of another prodigious talent's youthful enthusiasm in his attacking racing style, and like with Pogacar's Tour de France in 2022, it proved insufficient to win the Giro d'Italia. Jumbo-Visma isolated Pogacar in the French Alps, wearing the Slovenian down through an all-out assault, as his tremendous efforts over the course of the race told and he finally buckled. A similar situation happened the following year. In Italy, Del Toro appeared at ease closing gaps when other GC contenders attacked, but there were raised eyebrows at his decision to do it all himself, rather than letting his teammates do the dirty work. Question marks remain over UAE Team Emirates' tactics at this race, from their unwillingness to throw the full weight of the squad behind one or the other of del Toro and Ayuso when the Mexican was in the ascendancy, to the failure to work to bring back Yates on the Colle delle Finestre, instead letting the race win ride away into the clouds. Ironically, it was partially a reversion to conservative tactics that cost Del Toro the win – but his exhaustion on the penultimate stage will only have been compounded by the unnecessary energy he spent earlier in the race. Inevitably, Del Toro will be back; his class and ability were apparent as a youngster and have only been emphasised by his near two-week stint in the pink jersey. He is the youngest podium finisher at the Giro since Fausto Coppi 85 years ago, and second on his Giro debut. Grand Tour wins are in his future. But rather than youthful enthusiasm and star power, this Giro was won on patience and experience. Simon Yates raced his 2018 Giro in the aggressive way Del Toro began his stint in pink, before cracking spectacularly with the finish line in sight, losing 38 minutes on the Finestre as he watched Chris Froome ride away to glory. This time Yates, 21st on stage one, kept a low profile until the last possible moment. It was a win seven years in the making. While Del Toro stole the show for much of this race, and the complex politics among UAE's young cohort of starlets made for drama, this race was one for a generation of old-timers. Comparatively, at least. For Primoz Roglic, the overwhelming pre-race favourite, it was a disappointment. In his last twelve Grand Tours, going back to his maiden Vuelta victory in 2019, he has either finished on the podium (seven times) or abandoned the race (five). But this was the redemption tour for the 32-year-old Simon Yates; the exhilarating comeback of 28-year-old Egan Bernal, seventh on GC in Rome and back to attacking ways, three years on from the crash that nearly killed him; the unexpected renaissance of one of cycling's canniest racers, 32-year-old Richard Carapaz. Last year's Giro was a story of untempered dominance, of one of the most brilliant riders to ever grace the sport. This year's was a story of romance, of incredible perseverance, of a rider returning triumphant to the scene of one of his lowest moments. On the other side, it was a story of a young man with the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulders, making history for Mexico and breaking new ground. Lit up by the attacks of the 2019 and 2021 winners, won by a rider who may have thought his chances of another victory at the corsa rosa had passed him by, and the scene of Del Toro's coming of age, this Giro was the sport's past, present and future, all in one.
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Simon Yates rides away with prize of Giro d'Italia while rivals lose the plot
The Mexican standoff is a much-loved cinematic device, but the stalemate beloved of western movie script writers has rarely, if ever, decided one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 2025 Giro d'Italia was the exception, appositely as the biggest loser was an actual Mexican, Isaac del Toro, with the unassuming Lancastrian Simon Yates the two-wheeled equivalent of the bandit who skips off with the loot, while two other bandits – in this case Richard Carapaz and Del Toro – stare each other down waiting for the other man to blink. Yates's second career Grand Tour win, forged on the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday afternoon in a peerless display of courage and cunning, and sealed 24 hours later in the streets of Rome, will go down in cycling's annals as one of the most improbable heists the sport has witnessed. The endless joy of the Grand Tours – Spain, France, Italy – is that they throw up all kinds of delightful scenarios, but there have been few, if any, where the decisive plot line was a frozen stalemate between the cyclists in first and second places, each waiting for the other to move while a third man skipped away to victory. This was probably the most bizarre act of self-immolation in a Grand Tour since 1989, when Pedro Delgado wrecked his race on day one by getting lost en route to the start of the prologue time trial. To understand how this happened, the first key element is Yates himself. Now 32, his career has been marked by two qualities: patience and sang-froid. His ability to wait for the right moment, and to seize that moment, has been the hallmark of his best wins, going back to his earliest triumphs: his 2011 stage win in the Tour de l'Avenir, his 2013 world title in the points race on the velodrome in Minsk, and his Tour of Britain stage win later that year. When he threw caution to the winds, at the Giro in 2018, it backfired spectacularly at the end of the three weeks, in no less a place than the Colle delle Finestre; when he won the Vuelta a few months later, he had learned the lesson and bided his time. That it has taken so long for him to take a second Grand Tour can be largely summed up in one word: Slovenia. Seven years ago, no one would have predicted the rise and rise of Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic. Yates first looked like a potential winner on the day that Del Toro took the race lead, the gravel‑road stage into Siena, and he had ridden the perfect race since then, never losing enough time to rule him out, never putting his cards on the table. It took more than guts and patience; it needed the other pieces of the tactical jigsaw to slot into place. His team, Visma‑Lease-a-Bike, did what they had to do best: sending a satellite rider ahead in the day's main escape in case of need. Most days, the pawns had had limited impact; here, the strongest and most versatile, the Belgian Wout van Aert, was in the perfect position to help Yates to mess with Del Toro's and Carapaz's minds. Neither the Mexican nor the Ecuadorian had a teammate in place alongside Van Aert, an egregious blunder, because if either man had had an equipier to hand at the key moment – at the foot of the descent off the Finestre with 36km remaining when Yates was still just about within reach – it could well have tipped the balance. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Unwittingly, Carapaz's EF Education team slotted in another piece at the foot of the Finestre, where the EF domestiques ensured that the peloton would hit the climb at warp speed, paving the way for Carapaz to attack Del Toro. In the event, the Ecuadorian was unable to dislodge the Mexican, but their violent acceleration achieved something more insidious: it burned off Del Toro's teammates, who had defended his lead impeccably for 11 stages. By the time they rejoined Del Toro, Yates was long gone. Once Yates had flown the coop at the foot of the Finestre, it was Del Toro's job, as the race leader, to pursue the Lancastrian, whether or not he had any teammates with him. But he knew that to do so would expose him to a late attack from Carapaz, who had started the day only 43sec behind. And Carapaz was equally aware that if he chased, Del Toro might be the beneficiary. It needed either to seize the initiative, or for one team manager to issue an ultimatum to his rider. Without that, the upshot was the absorbing but unedifying spectacle of the pair freewheeling as Yates forged ahead with Van Aert – unedifying that is, unless you were a Visma team member, a British cycling fan or a connoisseur of the bizarre twists that bike racing unfailingly produces.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Simon Yates rides away with improbable prize of Giro d'Italia while rivals lose plot
The Mexican standoff is a much-loved cinematic device, but the stalemate beloved of western movie script writers has rarely, if ever, decided one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 2025 Giro d'Italia was the exception, appositely as the biggest loser was an actual Mexican, Isaac del Toro, with the unassuming Lancastrian Simon Yates the two-wheeled equivalent of the bandit who skips off with the loot, while two other bandits – in this case Richard Carapaz and Del Toro – stare each other down waiting for the other man to blink. Yates's second career Grand Tour win, forged on the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday afternoon in a peerless display of courage and cunning, and sealed 24 hours later in the streets of Rome, will go down in cycling's annals as one of the most improbable heists the sport has witnessed. Advertisement Related: Britain's Simon Yates seals Giro d'Italia in Rome for second grand tour title The endless joy of the Grand Tours – Spain, France, Italy – is that they throw up all kinds of delightful scenarios, but there have been few, if any, where the decisive plot line was a frozen stalemate between the cyclists in first and second places, each waiting for the other to move while a third man skipped away to victory. This was probably the most bizarre act of self-immolation in a Grand Tour since 1989, when Pedro Delgado wrecked his race on day one by getting lost en route to the start of the prologue time trial. To understand how this happened, the first key element is Yates himself. Now 32, his career has been marked by two qualities: patience and sang-froid. His ability to wait for the right moment, and to seize that moment, has been the hallmark of his best wins, going back to his earliest triumphs: his 2011 stage win in the Tour de l'Avenir, his 2013 world title in the points race on the velodrome in Minsk, and his Tour of Britain stage win later that year. When he threw caution to the winds, at the Giro in 2018, it backfired spectacularly at the end of the three weeks, in no less a place than the Colle delle Finestre; when he won the Vuelta a few months later, he had learned the lesson and bided his time. That it has taken so long for him to take a second Grand Tour can be largely summed up in one word: Slovenia. Seven years ago, no one would have predicted the rise and rise of Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic. Yates first looked like a potential winner on the day that Del Toro took the race lead, the gravel‑road stage into Siena, and he had ridden the perfect race since then, never losing enough time to rule him out, never putting his cards on the table. Advertisement It took more than guts and patience; it needed the other pieces of the tactical jigsaw to slot into place. His team, Visma‑Lease-a-Bike, did what they had to do best: sending a satellite rider ahead in the day's main escape in case of need. Most days, the pawns had had limited impact; here, the strongest and most versatile, the Belgian Wout van Aert, was in the perfect position to help Yates to mess with Del Toro's and Carapaz's minds. Neither the Mexican nor the Ecuadorian had a teammate in place alongside Van Aert, an egregious blunder, because if either man had had an equipier to hand at the key moment – at the foot of the descent off the Finestre with 36km remaining when Yates was still just about within reach – it could well have tipped the balance. Related: Giro d'Italia winner Simon Yates hails 'huge moment in my career' Advertisement Unwittingly, Carapaz's EF Education team slotted in another piece at the foot of the Finestre, where the EF domestiques ensured that the peloton would hit the climb at warp speed, paving the way for Carapaz to attack Del Toro. In the event, the Ecuadorian was unable to dislodge the Mexican, but their violent acceleration achieved something more insidious: it burned off Del Toro's teammates, who had defended his lead impeccably for 11 stages. By the time they rejoined Del Toro, Yates was long gone. Once Yates had flown the coop at the foot of the Finestre, it was Del Toro's job, as the race leader, to pursue the Lancastrian, whether or not he had any teammates with him. But he knew that to do so would expose him to a late attack from Carapaz, who had started the day only 43sec behind. And Carapaz was equally aware that if he chased, Del Toro might be the beneficiary. It needed either to seize the initiative, or for one team manager to issue an ultimatum to his rider. Without that, the upshot was the absorbing but unedifying spectacle of the pair freewheeling as Yates forged ahead with Van Aert – unedifying that is, unless you were a Visma team member, a British cycling fan or a connoisseur of the bizarre twists that bike racing unfailingly produces.
ABC News
01-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Simon Yates wins the Giro d'Italia as Pope Leo XIV blesses the peloton
British rider Simon Yates cruised to overall victory in the Giro d'Italia overnight — finally winning the race that had eluded him so often. After attacking on the gravel-road climb to take the pink jersey in the penultimate stage on Saturday, Yates finished nearly four minutes ahead of runner-up Isaac Del Toro, the 21-year-old Mexican who wore pink for 10 days before Yates took control. It's the second Grand Tour title for Yates after he won the Spanish Vuelta in 2018. "It's a defining moment of my career, there's no doubt about that," Yates said. Yates wore pink for 13 days during the 2018 Giro before cracking on one of the final climbs. He also had to withdraw from the Italian race in 2020 and 2022 — because of coronavirus and a knee injury, respectively. "I'm still in shock of what I've done," Yates said. "It's something that I've been working toward for a long time." Yates, who rides for Team Visma Lease a Bike, finished 3 minutes, 56 seconds ahead of Del Toro and 4:43 ahead of Richard Carapaz, the 2019 champion from Ecuador. Dutch rider Olav Kooij, Yates' teammate, won the final stage in a sprint finish. It was his second victory in this Giro after also winning the 12th stage — and third overall after winning one in 2024. "Perfect final weekend for us. After yesterday we were all really happy with what Simon pulled off," Kooij said. "To finish it off is really cool." During the non-competitive neutralised period just before the mostly ceremonial final stage actually began, the peloton passed through the Vatican and was blessed by Pope Leo XIV. The 143km final stage concluded with a circuit of eight laps through downtown Rome and finished next to the Circus Maximus — the ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium. At age 32, Yates already acknowledged that this victory is "the peak" of his career. His best finish in the Tour de France was fourth in 2023. AP
