EF Education-EasyPost admit Carapaz was let go for financial reasons: 'Cost centres that you can get rid of'
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Follow us on GoogleRichard Carapaz announced a shock departure from EF Education-EasyPost last Friday, despite having two years remaining on his contract. The highly-decorated Ecuadorian will ride for NSN next season. Jonathan Vaughters, boss at EF, admitted the move was motivated by financial struggles.
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Carapaz has enjoyed much success with EF
Carapaz has enjoyed success during his time on the team
Carapaz, 33, has been racing with EF Education-EasyPost since 2023. He joined them from Team INEOS. He previously rode for Movistar, with whom he won the Giro d'Italia in 2019.
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In 2024, he became the first Ecuadorian to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, as well as the first to win a Tour de France stage. In stage 17, he crossed the line more than 7 minutes ahead of Tadej Pogačar.
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He won a further 2 stages at the 2026 edition of the Tour, finishing 8th overall, and taking home the polkadot jersey and the super combativity award as well.
Budget cuts and soaring costs at EF Education Easy-Post
Vaughters revealed that with the departure of Oatly, who was a title sponsor of the women's WorldTour squad, the team is facing budget cuts of around 15%.
On top of these cuts, operational costs have apparently skyrocketed for the team, meaning they are facing financial difficulties.
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The team are reportedly facing financial difficulties
Vaughters said, "It was a little bit of a sad situation where our economic resources were stretched to the point that we needed to make some hard decisions."
"When it comes down to like, 'Well, what are the cost centres that you can get rid of?' Well, there's not so many options, right? A very simple option would be to just let your most highly compensated rider leave."
Carapaz was let go willingly, not poached
Vaughters, who is from Denver, Colorado, denied rumours that Carapaz was poached, or that the team fought the transfer.
"We willingly let Richie go. It was not forced," the American said.
"It was not a Brad Wiggins situation where we were fighting it tooth and nail," he added. In 2009, following his fourth-place finish at the Tour de France, Wiggins moved to the Team Sky project, despite intense resistance from Vaughters. The team was known as Garmin-Slipstream at the time.
Vaughters fought Wiggins' move, but not Carapaz's
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Clarice WebsterEditor
Clarice has been following cycling her whole life, wroting about Thibaut Pinot (among others) for her university magazine while earning her masters in Journalism. She is passionate about furthering equality in sports coverage, and has taken huge inspiration from pillars of women’s cycling like Beryl Burton, Marianne Vos, and Laura Kenny.
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