Richard Carapaz signs for EF Education-EasyPost

EF Education-EasyPost have confirmed the signing of Richard Carapaz from Ineos Grenadiers on a three-year contract.

The Ecuadorian GC rider was one of the biggest names on the market this off-season but his move to the American squad after three seasons at Ineos has been all-but-confirmed for some time.

Carapaz will lead the British squad at the Vuelta a España, which kicks off in Utrecht on Friday. Winner of the Olympic road race title last year and the Giro d'Italia in 2019, Carapaz said that his sights are set on the Tour de France in future.

"When you conquer one thing, you want more. I'm one of those people who wants more," Carapaz said in a press release issued by EF Education-EasyPost.

"There are still things I haven't achieved. I'd like to try to win another Grand Tour. A life goal has always been to win the Tour de France. It's something I will fight for. I know it's possible. I know what my potential is and what I can do, what I can achieve, and I'm fighting for this dream.

"Every day I get up with this dream that I have to try for. When I first started to ride we knew about the Grand Tours. Eventually I thought I could win the Giro d'Italia and I've done that and now I'm thinking about the Tour de France."

The addition of Carapaz brings to EF Education-EasyPost something the team arguably hasn't had since its founding back in 2007 – an absolute top-tier Grand Tour contender.

In the decade since Ryder Hesjedal won the 2012 Giro d'Italia, the team has recorded Tour de France and Vuelta a España podiums via Rigoberto Urán and Hugh Carthy, though Carapaz has a Giro title to his name and could yet add the Vuelta next month, too.

"This is a team with a lot of ambition and many things they want to achieve," Carapaz said. "I'm a piece that can fit into the team really well. I'm motivated and was looking for a team with the same objectives as me.

"I have the focus and want to try to win the Tour de France and I think that's something we can achieve here together. The team wants to reach for its goals and that's something really valuable to me.

"A team like this that wants to win a Grand Tour like me. This is something we will have to work a lot for because this is something that takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, and that's what this team has. I'm motivated to join the team to fight for this dream and the team has confidence in me so we're going to achieve all that we can together."

Carapaz is set to lead the team's Grand Tour GC core, with Carthy already signed up for next year while Chaves and Urán are on expiring contracts. He'll also link up with fellow Ecuadorians Jonathan Caicedo and Jefferson Alexander Cepeda at EF, with the latter having joined from Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli at the start of August.

"I know them well, especially Caicedo. We've known each other for many years because we grew up in the same cycling programme, so I've known him and we've trained together over the years," Carapaz said.

"Actually, I was speaking with him a couple of months ago, with Jonathan, because there was the possibility that I'd come to the team, so we met up to talk. I think it's been seven years, more or less, since we were on the same team. We were both on a Colombian team then. And then I said to him, what a coincidence in life that we're going to meet again on the same team. We were joking but now it's real.

"Honestly, it's really exciting. For me to be on a team with him who I've known for so many years and also with Alexander, too, who I've known since he was really young. I've seen his progress, how it's going, so for me to share a team with him is fantastic because I know he's still in the process of coming up and I can help him out a lot. For me, I always love being with the guys I've known our whole lives and to be on the same team makes me feel really at home."