After Almeida and Landa, Carapaz also forced to pull out of the Giro: 'Incredibly frustrating'

Blow after blow for the Giro d'Italia. After the withdrawals of João Almeida and Mikel Landa, it is now Richard Carapaz who will not be travelling to Bulgaria. The Ecuadorian cannot start due to a troublesome injury to his perineal area, and will miss the race where he finished third last year and won outright in 2019.

The 32-year-old's spring had already been patchy. His performances at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya left something to be desired, but the experienced climber is known for his ability to peak when it counts. There appeared to be no serious cause for concern — but there was. He had been dealing with a perineal problem.

He underwent surgery in early April. At the time, the Jaguar of Tulcán was still optimistic about his participation in the Giro. But as weeks passed without any update from the Carapaz or EF Education-EasyPost camp, the rumours darkened. Would he miss the race after all? Confirmation came just over a week before the start.

EF Education-EasyPost announced via Instagram that Carapaz will not ride the Giro. "He will continue his recovery from his procedure for a perineale cyst and will shift his focus to the Tour de France," the team said. Carapaz is back on the bike and will be in full form by July, the team added. But the Giro has come too soon.

That is a painful blow for Carapaz, for whom the Giro is a special race. He has started it four times: on his debut he finished fourth, the following year he wore the pink jersey all the way to Milan.

A second place in 2022 and a third in 2025 followed. "Finding myself in this situation is incredibly frustrating, because I have put a great deal of desire and time into this. Ultimately I have to put my health first and look ahead."

With Carapaz out, Jonas Vingegaard is an even more dominant favourite for the overall win. Almeida withdrew earlier due to a virus, and Landa followed — first affected by illness, then a crash in the Tour of the Basque Country when he was struck by a team car.