2020 Olympic Road Race Champion Richard Carapaz made it official, the first L’Etape by Tour de France gran fondo event of 2022 will be run in Ecuador.

“A new event joins the series for 2022! This time L’Etape will visit the country of the Olympic champion. Welcome @letapeecuador!” 

L’Etape Ecuador will start and finish in Cuenca on Sunday 20 February 2022. Over 1000 participants are expected on three routes: a 40 kilometre recreational race, an 80 kilometre medium distance race and a 150 kilometre gran fondo.  

At the moment, the organiser has not confirmed the exact route, but with the race venue located at 2500 metres in the highlands of Ecuador and local peaks reaching 4000 metres, the gran fondo route will favor high altitude climbing specialist – like Carapaz.  

Carapaz, who finished third overall at the 2021 Tour de France before soloing to an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, is expected to participate before returning to Europe for the 2022 World Tour professional race season. 

PHOTOS: L’Etape Ecuador

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