Richard Carapaz, Ecuadorian cyclist for EF Education-EasyPost, will compete in the Vuelta a España 2024 from Saturday, August 17 with the goal of winning the general classification and keeping the leader’s red jersey.
“After winning the King of the Mountains competition and an Alpine stage at the Tour de France, ‘Richie’ is going for victory in the Spanish grand tour,” the EF Education-EasyPost team confirmed in a press release.
EF Education-EasyPost promises an “all-rounder” team to back Carapaz, Olympic road champion in Tokyo 2020 and who missed this edition of the Paris Olympics for not receiving an invitation from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), processed by the Ecuadorian Cycling Federation.
Colombian Rigoberto Urán, in his eighth participation in the Spanish round, will be his main support rider. This will be the last Grand Tour for the ‘Toro de Urrao’, who will be in charge of supporting ‘La Locomotora del Carchi’.
“The Vuelta a España is a very special race for me. I’ve already worn the red jersey. I’ve been on the podium and won a couple of stages. The goal for me is clear: this year we want to go for the overall win and get the best possible result for the team,” said Carapaz, in statements collected by his team.
The U.S. squad is completed with another Ecuadorian, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Portugal’s Rui Costa, Australia’s Harry Sweeny, Ireland’s Darren Rafferty and Great Britain’s James Shaw and Owain Doull.