Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) returned to racing on Saturday at the Tour de Pologne determined to make his mark in the second half of the season but the Ecuadorian remains tight-lipped about where he will be racing in 2023.
"We've still got to wait a little bit, but there will be some news soon," Carapaz, whose current contract with Ineos Grenadiers ends this December, told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne.
Carapaz's future is one of the biggest transfer questions for the 2023 season.
Rumours have linked Carapaz with various teams, but nothing has yet been confirmed, and remaining with Ineos Grenadiers, on paper at least, is still a viable option.
As for his current condition, Carapaz confirmed to Cyclingnews that he will be tackling the Vuelta a España, his second Grand Tour of the season, with the idea of at least making the top three for the second time in three editions.
"I'm going there directly after here, [Pologne], I've done a really good block of altitude training in Ecuador and I'm in very good form. So I want to try and make the most of it, it's a very good opportunity to try and get on the podium."
First comes the Tour de Pologne, where Carapaz has bittersweet memories. In 2020, he took the race lead and won a stage only to lose it the following day after crashing and abandoning the race.
"There are some demanding stages, so we can try for them," Carapaz said, "so although the big goal will be the Vuelta this autumn, we've got a strong team here and the form is very good, so to try and win here would be marvellous."
Having secured second place in the Giro d'Italia this spring, Carapaz comes to the Tour de Pologne with one of the strongest squads for the week-long stage race, with young riders Ethan Hayter, Magnus Sheffield and Ben Tulett, all part of the line-up, along with experienced sprinter Elia Viviani. However, local star Michal Kwiatkowski is not, as previously expected, taking part, due to a crash while training that left the Pole suffering from a concussion and needing to rest.
