Recovering Carapaz to skip Giro d'Italia and focus on Tour de France

Former Olympic champion Richard Carapaz will miss this year's Giro d'Italia as he continues to recover from perineal surgery, his EF Education–EasyPost team said on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Ecuadorean, who won road race gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, will instead shift his focus to the Tour de France, which begins on July 4 in Barcelona and finishes on July 26 in Paris.

“For me, it's a complete disappointment, because the Giro is a race that I've always had a lot of affection for and looked forward to,” Carapaz said in a team statement.

“Finding myself in this situation is frustrating because you put a lot of desire and time into it, but in the end I have to prioritize my health now and move forward.

"These are things you aren't prepared for. I will make the best of it and move forward. We are at the gates of the Tour."

The Giro d'Italia runs from May 8-31.