Did you have coffee?, asked the Olympic gold medalist Richard Carapaz upon his arrival at the Tarqui-Guzho park, to head the second stage of the 0400 Tour that bears his name. It was 10 minutes to 06:00. The cold shook those present, but not the spirits of the 400 cyclists who were eager to cover the 109.77 km.
“I’m not here to compete, I’m here to enjoy with you,” said the ‘Carchi Locomotive’ after sharing that she came pedaling to the south of the country. She left on Wednesday April 26 from Tulcán. Three days later she arrived at Gualaceo, entering through Macas.
‘Richard’, ‘Locomotora’, ‘Chucu-chucu’ were the words that those present used the most, behind the metal fences, to attract the attention of the 2019 Giro d’Italia champion and fix a photograph with their cell phone. “There will be time for photos, if you have his phones ready,” said the 29-year-old from Carchá in his pink EF Education-EasyPost jersey.
“For those of us who love cycling, it is our idol,” said Jaqueline Farinango. His father Carlos Vásquez, 63, had not run since the 1990s. This time he did not want to miss the opportunity to ride with Carapaz. He couldn’t keep up with him, but he completed the track in 4h25m17s.
‘Richie’ went all the way at an easy pace. He averaged 3h40m. He appreciated the support of the public and praised the emergence of new talents such as Brayan Obando. The 22-year-old from Carchán is one of the favorites to win the 0400 Tour.
He was the absolute winner of the first stage, in Quito. He took a minute and a half from his escort. Yesterday he confirmed his good moment by winning the second stage in 2h58m46s. He was escorted by the young Azuayos José Sarmiento (19 years old) with 3h02m01s and Rómulo Moscoso (22 years old) with 3h02m10s.
podium in ladies
Now without the wool poncho that he wore at dawn to appease the icy cold of Cuenca, Gustavo Ruiz celebrated the second place, in the General, of Estefanía Rivera from Tuna after clocking 3h27m56s. The winner was Dani Zambrano from Quito (3h22m30s). Both reserved third place for Madelain Enríquez (3h28m37s), who won the first stage.
I am a climber. More or less at km 50 the slope began. There I took the opportunity to open myself up as much as I could and I assume that this was my gap to be able to win. In the first stage I was not very trained, I came fourth in the General. Now I focused better. The truth was that I did not come with enough expectations of winning, luckily it went well for me.
Photos and autographs
After the Olympic medalist shared that his main objective this year is the Tour de France -which will start in Bilbao on July 1st-, he went to a small improvised room to attend to the requests for photographs and autographs from his fans.
His face denoted tiredness, but he never lacked a smile for his followers. She even got up from the sofa and went to greet the people who were behind the fences, extending her arms with her cell phone or some souvenir, waiting to return home with her photo or signature.
Andrés Delgado couldn’t get Richard to sign his jersey, but he didn’t give up. He asked someone who had access to the cyclist and achieved his goal. “This jersey was reserved. I told my wife: for Richie to sign. The dream came true.”
Pablo Pacheco used the same strategy and got the 2020 Vuelta a España runner-up to stamp his signature on the rim of a bicycle that he bought from his tender Joaquín. “It’s quite exciting to see him and that he can give me something for my son, hopefully he will be a future cyclist.”
Before leaving the Azuaya capital with his wife Tania Rosero, Carapaz confirmed that he will not be in the last two stages of the 0400 Tour: in Santo Domingo, on May 21, and in Tulcán, on June 11.
In those days he will be in Europe. Within its competition calendar is the ‘Critérium du Dauphiné’ that will run from June 4 to 11, before the Tour de France.
Results by category
Sub 23
- Damas: Carol Masabanda (Ambato), Heidi Flores (Otavalo), Dayanna Mendoza (Cuenca).
- Males: Brayan Obando (Tulcán), José Sarmiento (Cuenca), Rómulo Moscoso (Sígsig).
Elite
- Damas: Madelain Enriquez (Tulcan), Ana Torres (Cuenca), Sofia Contreras (Quito).
- Males: Diego Montalvo (Ibarra), Camilo Tobar (Ipiales), John Cotacachi (Carchi).
Master A
- Damas: Dani Zambrano (Quito), Stephanie Rivera (Atuntaqui), Lolita Rhodes (Cuenca).
- Males: Cléber Cuasquer (Tulcán), Pedro Ordóñez (Cuenca), Anderson Argothy (Ibarra).
Master B
- Damas: Priscilla Whitewashed (Basin), Elisabeth Gschosser (Drunk), Paola Aguirre (Basin).
- Males: Omar Huera (Atuntaqui), Juan Ortega, Giovanny Marble.
Master C:
- Males: Andrés Ríos (Quito), David Vega, Galo Rodríguez.
Master D:
- Males: Luis Chuga (Quito), Rommel Yépez (Ibarra), Flavio Pachacama (Quito).
Junior
- Males: Kevin Navas (Otavalo), Diego Machuca (Cuenca), Kevin Narváez (Tulcán).
Mountaineer:
- Males: Edisson Felix (Quito), Adrian Vaca (Quito), Samuel Quizhpe (Cuenca).
Gallery
