{"id":820341,"date":"2026-11-01T02:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820341\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T02:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:22:13","slug":"i-felt-free-as-if-i-had-been-born-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820341\/","title":{"rendered":"I felt free, as if I had been born again"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nCarapaz\u2019s story of overcoming adversity, from that accident to becoming Olympic champion and winning the Giro d\u2019Italia, was reported by the EFE news agency<\/a>. The Ecuadorian looked back on the sacrifices that shaped his journey, from his first steps in European cycling to achieving the major goals he had set himself.\"Richard<\/p>\n

Richard Carapaz with Movistar Team<\/p>\n

Three months without pay to pursue his European dream<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the day I got back on a bike very clearly. I felt free, as if I had been born again, with a new sense of purpose. That was when I decided I wanted to become the very best, because God had given me another chance to ride,\u201d the rider recalled. From then on, he set himself three major goals: to turn professional in Europe, win the Giro d\u2019Italia and become Olympic champion.<\/p>\n

His first major challenge came in 2016, when he was offered a three-month trial with a Spanish team. He took the opportunity without any financial compensation and with no certainty that he would earn a contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part was getting started,\u201d he admitted. His attitude and performances eventually convinced the team\u2019s management, who opened the door to the professional ranks.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, he learned to take on different roles in the peloton, beginning as a domestique working for the team leaders. In 2019, however, he was given the chance to lead at the Giro d\u2019Italia. After losing time on stage three, he took the initiative and told his teammates how to regroup and win stage four. That victory proved decisive in his overall triumph.<\/p>\n

‘Special’ Giro podium\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe podium in Verona was very special, because I knew then that all those special moments I had missed with my family, like birthdays and anniversaries, had been worth it,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

His next major goal was the Tokyo Olympics, but the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted his plans. During lockdown, he had to train at home without knowing when he would race again.<\/p>\n

By the time the Olympic road race arrived, Carapaz believed he could win, although he knew victory was not guaranteed: \u201cThat thought crossed my mind too.\u201d The gold medal capped 16 years of sacrifice.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarapaz did not become Olympic champion overnight. It took 16 years of early mornings, training, eating as well as I could and striving every day to be the best version of myself,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Carapaz\u2019s story of overcoming adversity, from that accident to becoming Olympic champion and winning the Giro d\u2019Italia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":820342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,20995,117391,110700,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-820341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-giro-ditalia","tag-nsn-cycling-team","tag-richard-carapaz","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}