Many had hoped that Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates would give his teammates a little day off and give the breakaway adventurers a chance after they were completely destroyed by the team yesterday.
However, the group, which included Richard Carapaz, soon realized that their efforts would be in vain because Jonas Vingegaard had plans to attack this time. Nevertheless, the Ecuadorian and his fellow riders braved the Plateau de Beille, and this resulted in a stage 9 and red numbers for Tuesday’s stage 16.
“We fought with everything we had, but we knew that our breakaway was not going to be successful,” stage rider Carapaz, who was the most aggressive, said in a press release.
At the base of Plateau de Beille, the escapees had a 2:30 lead, but Matteo Jorgenson’s relentless pace caused the deficit to close to 50 seconds in no time. Jonas Vingegaard left at that point, with eight kilometers remaining. The two apprehended the fugitives in no time at all. Even the 2019 Giro winner was unable to hang on for very long, even though Carapaz was the last person remaining. “When Tadej and Jonas reached us, I tried to follow them for as long as I could… but they had a different pace.”
Carapaz is still proud of his performance as it stands now. “I was sick before the Tour, which made me a little worse than I had anticipated.
Nevertheless, I was able to don the Yellow Jersey on one occasion. I’m racing again right now. There are still plenty of opportunities in the mountains, and the fact that my legs seem to be improving makes me extremely happy.”