‘A lack of respect’ – Richard Carapaz dismayed by Decathlon AG2R’s reaction to Vuelta a España crash

Even behind sunglasses and a face mask, Richard Carapaz’s dismay was self-evident when he arrived in the mixed zone in Ourense ahead of stage 12 of the Vuelta a España. The day would end with a summit finish at Manzaneda, but that looming appointment was overshadowed entirely by unfinished business from the previous afternoon.

Carapaz’s attempted attack with 90km left in stage 11 had been blocked by members of Ben O’Connor’s Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale squad, and the Ecuadorian crashed after clashing with Geoffroy Bouchard. The commissaires doled out yellow cards and fines to four members of Decathlon at the end of the stage, but Carapaz’s EF Education-EasyPost squad was of the view that the punishment was hardly a fitting one.