{"id":757502,"date":"2026-06-24T16:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/757502\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T16:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:25:11","slug":"carapaz-reflects-on-his-2026-tour-de-france-gc-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/757502\/","title":{"rendered":"Carapaz reflects on his 2026 Tour de France GC ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first selections for the Tour de France have been announced, and the picture of the riders\u2019 ambitions is becoming clearer. The next name we can add to that list is Richard Carapaz<\/a>. The Ecuadorian rider, riding for EF Education-EasyPost<\/a>, won\u2019t be going for the general classification<\/a>: Carapaz will be chasing the jersey he won back in 2024.He doesn\u2019t beat around the bush: Carapaz is at the Tour de France to compete for the mountains jersey and a stage win. \u201cPreferably on Alpe d\u2019Huez,\u201d EsCiclismo<\/a> notes from the Escapa<\/a> podcast. He says this after finishing second in the Tour de Suisse, behind the unbeatable Tadej Pogacar.Why isn’t Carapaz competing for the Tour de France GC?The EF rider finished more than six minutes behind the world champion<\/a> in the five-day race in Switzerland, though that isn\u2019t even the reason he doesn\u2019t want to compete for the general classification. \u201cOf course I\u2019d love to compete for the general classification, but right now, on my own, that\u2019s impossible. In the Tour, everyone has to be in top form, and that\u2019s not the case right now. We have to be realistic,\u201d he says, looking at his EF teammates.<\/p>\n

And so he already has his strategy all figured out, at least for the first week. \u201cAt first, I\u2019ll try to do the same thing I did two or three years ago. If I can grab the yellow jersey, I\u2019ll obviously go for it. If not, there will come a point when we\u2019ll have to take it easier and see what opportunities are out there for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the climb to Alpe d’Huez later in the Tour presents another great opportunity. \u201cThat\u2019s a stage I enjoy and am really looking forward to. It\u2019s a very tough stage, and everyone knows that. But on paper, anything can change. You have to be smart, know which breakaway to join, and take advantage of the opportunities that arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"richardCarapaz: ‘It’s impossible to make Pogacar suffer’<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s some uncertainty about the condition of Carapaz\u2019s legs after he underwent surgery in the spring. \u201cThat was tougher than I thought,\u201d the Ecuadorian rider reflects. \u201cI thought it would be a small incision, a quick procedure, and that\u2019s what it was, but it turned out to be more invasive, and the recovery took a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

“That uncertainty is always disastrous, and I started to feel a little desperate,” said Switzerland’s number two last week. That was quite a boost, by the way. \u201cVery special. It was all about rediscovering myself and being able to compete for a podium finish. It confirms that we prepared well. It was the best test we could have hoped for ahead of the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carapaz thought about skipping the Tour<\/p>\n

Because if Switzerland had been a disappointment, we might not have seen the climber in the Tour at all. \u201cIf I\u2019d finished twentieth or lower, half an hour or forty minutes behind the best rider, you might have thought twice. The Tour is such a serious race that it\u2019s better not to go if you\u2019re not well prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Pogacar did put him far behind. \u201cThese days, it\u2019s impossible to make him suffer,\u201d Carapaz says. \u201cHe\u2019s much better. What he\u2019s shown over the past few days in Switzerland is incredible. He\u2019s the only rider who can challenge Mathieu van der Poel in a classic or Paris-Roubaix and then go on to win the Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge, Il Lombardia, Strade Bianche, or the Tour de France.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first selections for the Tour de France have been announced, and the picture of the riders\u2019 ambitions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":757503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,111365,63569,85,346968],"class_list":["post-757502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-ef-education-easypost","tag-richard-carapaz","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-france-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}