Richard Carapaz rides like he means it. He doesn’t have the robotic, monotonous, controlled style that some general classification riders possess. Instead, the Ecuadorian rider’s face, body and mannerisms show us that he is hurting. During his attack on the final climb of stage 16 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia – which dropped both current race leader Isaac del Toro and second place rider on general classification, Simon Yates – Carapaz’s mouth was stretched into a grimace, sweat dripped down to his top tube, his black shorts were stained with salt. As he rocked and rolled over his pedals, however, the EF Education-EasyPost man put more and more time into his GC rivals on the Brentonico climb. He fought for every revolution, for every second, for every chance. This is who Carapaz is.
“You always know he’s going to give one hundred percent. Even if he’s going shit he’ll give one hundred percent. He’s the guy that will go until he’ll drop dead before he gives up, he’ll push himself that far,” Carapaz’s teammate, James Shaw, told Rouleur after the race. “That means we know we can also give one hundred percent, – he’s not wasting my time. It rubs off on everyone and we all have one aim that brings us together as a group. Having someone with that level of ability, passion and commitment to the sport, it helps.”
In many ways, this Giro can already be considered a success story for the former Olympic champion. His win on stage 11, where he made a trademark instinctive attack to take a solo victory ahead of the group of favourites, ticked a big box for his team when it comes to their ambitions for this season. However, Carapaz is a thoroughbred bike racer, which means he always wants more. After his performance on stage 16, the pink jersey is tantalisingly within reach – the gap between the EF rider and UAE Team Emirate-XRG’s Del Toro is now just a mere half a minute.
As the mountains in this Giro steadily guide the peloton towards the final stage in Rome, Carapaz can rely on his experience – the Ecuadorian rider has, of course, done this before. He won La Corsa Rosa back in 2019, a victory which kickstarted a stunning run of results during the seasons that followed – the Olympic gold medal in the road race, a Tour de France polka dot jersey and Vuelta a España stage wins were just a few of his successes. There was a quieter period in terms of podium performances during Carapaz’s time with the Ineos Grenadiers and at the very start of his tenure with EF Education-EasyPost, but we all know by now that, no matter what, Carapaz rarely stops believing.
“He’s not necessarily had confidence in this race, but it is like a belief, a desire and a dream. Having won this race in the past and then didn't have the time at Ineos he wanted, but now he’s back to that Richard that won here in the past. The guy that won the Olympic road race, he’s back at that level now,” Shaw continued.
“It’s easy to say that Ineos and Visma are the best teams in the world with science and stuff like that, but I don’t think we’re a million miles behind and given the budget we’ve got, we make it go a long way. I also think that commitment from the team to him helps, we’re not dreaming of anything else. That is it. I don’t want to say it’s just the Richard Carapaz show, but it is just a bit like that. We’ve got so much faith in him.”
Carapaz’s humble, hard-working character, combined with his plucky determination and impulsive, savvy riding style makes him an easy rider to root for. It is this which has rubbed off on his teammates, who have every belief that taking home the maglia rosa is possible. Unlike 21-year-old Del Toro, who has unexpectedly fallen into the role of race leader for the first time, 31-year-old knows what it is like to both win and lose on the biggest stage. This, according to Shaw, will be an asset during the final week of the race: “[Even though he is closer to the race lead] Richie won’t change. Richie is so relaxed as a person, he definitely doesn’t stress, each morning when we go to sign on he’s last to roll out of the bus. He has that South American mentality for sure.”
It’s true that there are still some big tests to come in the Giro d’Italia before the eventual winner is decided, but Carapaz has proven himself as one of the standout favourites for victory, six years after he last won this race. Anything can happen in a Grand Tour – as has been shown by the misfortune of so many in this Giro so far – but there is one certainty when it comes to Richard Carapaz: he will leave his heart and soul in Italy’s mountains on his quest for a second pink jersey.
