Three years ago, when Richard Calapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) began his unexpected but deserved path to victory in the Giro d'Italia, the Ecuadorian asked one question at a press conference with teammate and then-Movistar star Mikel Landa.

Fast-forward to 2022, and it's a very different situation for the 28-year-old racer. Carapaz, a former Giro winner who has been on the podium at both the Tour de France (2021) and the Vuelta a España, was the favorite to win the Giro in three weeks in Verona in the traditional pre-Giro media grill in Budapest on Wednesday He emerged as the most widely regarded as the most likely winner.

Needless to say, journalistic interest in his remarks was much higher than it had been three years ago in May, when he received one symbolic inquiry about his 2019 chances at the Bologna fairgrounds, which also served as the Giro's media center.

The questions centered on Karapas' role in a team built almost exclusively around his GC contention for his second Giro d'Italia in four years, and his teammate and defending champion Egan Bernal's life-threatening accident and courageous fight to recover to win again It was about how he is motivated by the Calapaz is determined to fight his second Grand Tour this year at the Vuelta a España.

Calapaz has run two Grand Tours in the same year three times, in 2018, 2020, and 2021. This is the first time he will combine the Giro and Vuelta since 2018, when he finished fourth and 18th, respectively, and the first time he will attempt to succeed in both.

"It's a new goal and a very personal one," said Karapas, confirming that he wants to try two different Grand Tours this year, the first of which is of course the Giro. It's very important for me to race here with a strong team," he said.

Kalapas' talents as a climber and time triallist are already well established, but as BikeExchange-Jayco sport director Matt White recently told Cycling News, one of his weapons is unpredictability. At this spring's Volta a Catalunya, he made a long-distance breakaway on the second and final stage, giving him his first victory in seven months since the Olympic road ace.

More relevantly, this type of move has also recently brought victories in the Grand Tours. Tadei Pogachal won last year's Tour de France in the Alps, and Primozh Roglicu won last year's Vuelta a España in Lagos de Covadonga, pulling away from Bernal 60 km from the finish.

Carapaz was asked if it was possible for him to aim for the maglia rosa in a similar long-distance race in 2022, and he said there was no possibility.

"You have to see how strong you are and then figure out what you can do. That type of attack has become sort of a fad lately."

"The Giro d'Italia is not won in one stage. But we have seen a lot of surprises in this race. But I've seen a lot of surprises in this race.

In any case, the Giro holds a special place in Karapas' memory. Not only was it the place where he won his first, and to date only, Grand Tour, but it was also the place where he won his first Grand Tour stage in MonteVergine in 2016 with a gutsy late attack. It was a great moment," he said in Budapest. I remember it was raining and I was wearing the Best Young Rider jersey. That was special."

But three years after his Giro d'Italia victory, Karapas warns that he is no longer the same kind of rider. He said, "It's a completely different Richard from that year, and his form is different. We shared the leadership role in 2019, but now I get my chance."

"We have a balanced team that can cover for each other," said teammate Ben Swift, also a member of the Ineos Grenadiers who won the Giro d'Italia in 2020 with Tao Geoghegan Hart.

"Richard is a great leader, a very focused and dynamic guy.

Swift emphasized the all-round qualities of the team, which has considerable firepower in all areas, from experienced mountain riders like Sivakov and Richie Porte to 20-year-old Ben Tullett, a first-time Grand Tour participant.

"We're in good enough shape to take our chances if anything should go wrong," Swift said.