Carapaz targets mountains jersey and stage win at Tour de France

Richard Carapaz, the Ecuadorian cycling star, is setting his sights on the mountains classification and a stage victory at the Tour de France, which begins July 4 in Barcelona. While he expressed a desire to contend for the overall lead, Carapaz realistically assesses that team absences make such a goal improbable.

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Obviously, I would be thrilled to fight for the general classification, but today, with me alone, it's impossible.

"Obviously, I would be thrilled to fight for the general classification, but today, with me alone, it's impossible," Carapaz stated in an interview with Escapa Podcast. He emphasized the need for a fully competitive team to challenge for the overall title, a condition his current team, EF Education-EasyPost, does not meet.

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When you go to a Tour, you have to go with everyone at one hundred percent, and right now we don't have that. We have to be realistic.

Despite the team's situation, Carapaz is not ruling out an early bid for the yellow jersey, particularly with a team time trial on the opening day. He plans to emulate past strategies, aiming for the lead if the opportunity arises, but is prepared to shift focus to stage wins and the mountains jersey if a general classification challenge proves unfeasible. The Alpe d'Huez stage is a particular highlight he is looking forward to.

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Alpe d’Huez is a stage that I like and that I am very excited about. It is very hard and everyone knows it.

Carapaz's confidence has been bolstered by his second-place finish at the Tour of Switzerland, a significant morale boost after undergoing a more complex surgery than anticipated. He spent a considerable part of his preparation at high altitude in Ecuador, aiming to build form for the demanding season ahead.

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The operation was more difficult than I thought. I thought it would be a small cut, take it out and that was it, but it had to be more invasive and the recovery took a long time. That uncertainty always kills and I got a little desperate.