2019 Giro d'Italia champion Richard Karapas has defended himself against accusations of "disloyalty" from Movistar's sporting director, saying he suffered from a lack of trust in his former team.

Calapaz left Movistar late last year amid turbulence after winning the Giro and failing to compete in the highly anticipated Vuelta a España. He was injured in a crash at the criterium the week before and was not allowed to participate by Movistar.

At this point, Kalapas had already signed a contract with Team Ineos for 2020, reportedly for much more than his salary at Movistar.

Apart from Carapaz's complicated departure from the Spanish team, the relationship between his agent, Giuseppe Acquadro, and Movistar's team manager, Eusebio Unzué, was also tumultuous. Acquadro was the agent of Carapaz, Nairo Quintana, Winner Anacona, and Andrei Amador, all of whom left Movistar at the end of 2019. Unzier reportedly said last year that he would no longer hire players represented by Acquadro.

In the Netflix documentary El dia menos pensado (The Most Unlikely Day), which covers Movistar's entire 2019 season, director Pablo Lastras says: "I don't care about his [Carapas'] future. He is not loyal and I don't want an unfaithful rider in my team."

"They may have given him more money than we did [at Ineos], but he jumped on it this year [2020] because the team had money."

Last year's victory for Calapaz, who finished fourth in the 2018 Giro d'Italia, was one of the most unexpected Grand Tour wins in recent years, and the Ecuadorian native started the race as "Plan B" for Movistar, led by Mikel Landa.

However, as Landa struggled with early problems, crashes, and injuries, Calapaz did not receive much attention on GC until the third week, when he held off favorites Vincenzo Nibali (then Barlain Merida) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) to win his country's first Grand Tour He won his country's first Grand Tour.

Calapaz defended himself against Lastras' accusations on ESPN Bike, saying: "I didn't get the trust I needed [from the team].

"I was not disloyal. I gave more than the team asked for. As a rider I gave everything and if they don't appreciate that, then people can draw their own conclusions."

This article was corrected to state that Carapas was fourth in the 2018 Giro d'Italia, not the 2019 event, which he won.