Richard Carapaz Makes History with Tour de France Stage Win

Richard Carapaz achieved a milestone in cycling’s Grand Tours by claiming victory in stage 17 of the Tour de France. With previous stage wins in the Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana, and an Olympic gold in road racing, Carapaz secured his first Tour de France stage triumph with an impressive solo performance in the Alps. He also became the first Ecuadorian to win a Tour stage.

Behind Carapaz, Simon Yates of Britain finished second, while race leader Tadej Pogacar crossed the line in 27th place but extended his overall lead over Jonas Vingegaard to three minutes and 11 seconds. Pogacar, eyeing his third Tour de France win, launched a late attack, reinforcing his lead in the general classification. Remco Evenepoel, third overall, closed to within two minutes of Vingegaard in the general classification standings after finishing ahead of Pogacar.

Despite Evenepoel’s time gain, Pogacar remains the favorite for the overall victory. The stage was marked by a breakaway that held the lead until the final stages, where Yates made a decisive move on the Col du Noyer. However, Carapaz surged past Yates and built a significant lead on the descent, finishing 37 seconds ahead of his closest rival. Richard Carapaz briefly wore the yellow jersey earlier in the race but subsequently dropped out of contention for the overall title.

His stage 17 victory marked his seventh Grand Tour win, complementing successes in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. Despite a crash, Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay showed resilience, staying competitive in the points classification. His impressive performance in securing multiple intermediate sprint victories further solidified his lead in the green jersey race.

With the Tour nearing its conclusion, stage 18 presents another challenging route before decisive mountain stages that will likely determine the final standings.