Simon Carr finally gets his 'nice moment': British rider takes first win for EF at the Tour of the Alps
After going close on stage two, the EF Education-Easy Post rider grabbed victory on stage five in Brunico, but will not be heading to the Giro d'Italia
It has been a long time coming. After two years and four months racing in the pink of EF Education-EasyPost, Simon Carr took his first victory for the American squad on Friday at the Tour of the Alps.
The 24-year old took his win after spending 82km in the breakaway on a rain-affected stage five to Brunico, in northeast Italy. It is the second win of his career, after victory at the Prueba Villafranca-Ordiziako Klasika while riding for Nippo Delko One Provence back in 2020.
After being cruelly caught by the peloton on stage two this week, the climber, born in Hereford but raised in Occitanie in the South of France, explained his huge sense of relief at grabbing his second-ever professional win.
“It was a really tough day today,” Carr said. “Also it’s been a while since my first win, so not just today, but there’s been a lot of races where I’ve been trying to get there. When you finally succeed, then it's such a nice moment.”
Carr has often come alive in the mountains. When he launched a solo move out of the day's breakaway on the tough Mühlbach climb, he showed no signs of being affected by the injuries and illness that hampered his last two years of racing.
“I think any win is really important, I had a good start with this team in 2021, and last year wasn’t so good with illness and injury,” he added. “I’ve been coming back strong this year, and already in the Volta a Catalunya, and then a month ago I was feeling good in a few breakaways, so then there were a good few opportunities, I just wanted to seize those and of course, it has now paid off.”
The EF Education-EasyPost rider will not be riding the Giro d’Italia in support of Hugh Carthy, and will also skip the Tour de France, but is on the cards to head to the Vuelta a España in August. Instead, he will be looking to build on this momentum at smaller races.
“I’ve done two Giro’s in the past, I think for me this year it was more important to focus on some non-WorldTour races and try and get some wins in those,” he said. “That was the goal. So hopefully not going to the Giro will mean I have more opportunities to win again.”
“The next goal for me is the Route d’Occitanie. It’s where I grew up, so I really want to do well there and maybe test my GC legs.”
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Tom joined Cycling Weekly in early 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine.
He has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the recent Glasgow World Championships. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world and interviewed some of the sport's top riders.
When not writing news scoops from the WorldTour, or covering stories from elsewhere in the domestic professional scene, he reports on goings on at bike shops up and down the UK, where he is based when not out on the road at races. He has also appeared on the Radio Cycling podcast.
-
Wout van Aert back on drop bars as he says he’s ‘almost professional again’ in Strava post
Visma-Lease a Bike rider broke his collarbone, sternum and several ribs in a high speed crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'Ride like you own the road' - Zoe Bäckstedt on Paris-Roubaix Femmes, her Grand Tour debut and her new Red Bull helmet
Bäckstedt recently landed sponsorship from the energy drink giants and joined the likes of Tom Pidcock, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Evie Richards as a Red Bull athlete
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Juanpe López wins Tour of the Alps, does 34 kick-ups with a football
'My coach said to do it for Betis,' says Spaniard of his boyhood football club
By Tom Davidson Published
-
6 ways riders are making their bikes lighter at the Tour of the Alps
From ultralight wheels to carbon bottle cages, there are precious grams to be saved in the mountains
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'I felt like I was the worst rider in the bunch' - Simon Carr dispels doubt with longest ever solo win at Tour of the Alps
Brit triumphs from lone 45km breakaway, after days of battling allergies
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'It's a surreal experience' - Meet the British teenager racing with his heroes
Oli Peace is stepping up in his first pro race at the Tour of the Alps
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'It was one of the hardest days of my life' - Rain and cold lay waste to Tour of the Alps
Juanpe López takes stage three victory, while Geraint Thomas finishes three minutes down in inclement Austrian weather
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'I got left out' - How one contractless pro is fighting to get back to the WorldTour
Giro d'Italia stage winner Lukas Pöstlberger might be without a team, but he's determined to get back to the top
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'We're fighting all the time to be in front': Is cycling more dangerous nowadays? We asked the pros
'We need to show some good sense and realise that it's not worth winning at any price,' said one rider
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'I spent five weeks on the sofa': How Tobias Foss overcame illness and got back to winning ways
At the Tour of the Alps, the Ineos Grenadiers rider took his first victory since becoming time trial world champion in 2022. The 19 months in between proved a bumpy ride
By Tom Davidson Published