25th May 2019
Ecuadorian climber from Movistar Team shows again his impressive strength with splendid attack at Colle San Carlo, 30km before Courmayeur’s finish; adds provisional Maglia Rosa to his third win in the race, his second in 2019.
Richard Carapaz showed once again on Saturday’s stage fourteen of the 2019 Giro d’Italia the enormous potential everyone in the Movistar Team’s roster for the ‘Corsa Rosa’ is able to offer, another perfectly-timed attack propelling him to the race lead in the first Grand Tour of the season.
The Colle San Carlo (Cat-1), the most demanding of five climbs in a grueling 131km trek from Saint-Vincent to Courmayeur, saw the Ecuadorian launching an unstoppable attack with three kilometers from its summit, one which found no opposition from either Roglic (TJV), Nibali (TBM), López (AST) or Majka (BOH) into a group also containing team-mate Mikel Landa. The 35″ gap ammassed by the ‘Locomotora del Carchi’ at the top were nearly bridged back by Roglic and Nibali into the long descent, yet the lack of cooperation behind and Richard’s excellent power helped him open the gaps in the ups-and-downs leading up to Courmayeur, where his gap lifted off to two minutes.
Carapaz’s extraordinary effort did not only bring him a third career stage win in the Giro d’Italia -his second so far in 2019-, but also put him into the Maglia Rosa by a 7″ margin over who seemingly was bound to take it, Primoz Roglic -Landa took 5th over the line and also in the GC standings, 2’50” behind his Ecuadorian colleague-. Three years after Andrey Amador, the Telefónica-backed squad will be again defending the Giro leader’s jersey in a classic-like stage fifteen (232km) from Ivrea to Como, imitating the final section of Il Lombardia before the final rest day on Monday.
REACTION / Richard Carapaz:
“I can’t even believe it myself. It’s a dream I’ve worked so hard for, an enormous effort for such a long time which is finally paying off now. Today’s strategy was one we had designed thoroughly with the rest of the team; we knew both Mikel and I had good chances to do well, and San Carlo’s slopes suited my characteristics really well. Having two cards to play, it’s quite easier. I saw the place to attack with three kilometers from the end of the ascent, launched an acceleration with everything I had, and was able to keep that speed and open the 30″ I held over the climb. It was enough to make our rivals suffer, continue to open those gaps into the last climb and, at the end, even having a shot at the Maglia Rosa. I just can’t believe it, I’m so, so happy!”
