Ecuador’s president abolishes import taxes on bicycles following Carapaz’s Giro victory

Richard Carapaz’s Giro d’Italia victory has captured the minds of Ecuadorians. Newspapers across the South American country of 16 million prominently featured the 25-year-old celebrating in pink on their covers. Carapaz has rocketed into the list of national sporting heroes and is bringing with him the momentum to turn a nation cycling-crazed.

The news is already changing policy in Ecuador. On Monday, Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno announced that he would be abolishing import taxes on bicycles and will ramp up efforts to better support the country’s athletes.

In a piece titled, “The heroic Richard Carapaz is already one of the greats of Ecuadorian sport of all time!” sports writer Ricardo Vasconcellos Figueroa wrote in El Universo of the significance of the victory.

“Richard Carapaz is already an immortal figure in Ecuadorian sport. At the 2019 Giro d’Italia, the rider from Carchi attained the sort of legend status that is only reached through unprecedented success, through world-class achievement, through memorable acts that give you goosebumps and fill you with pride, through exploits that shake a nation and absolutely grip its people to a competition that consecrates a champion forever. That’s how Carapaz reached sporting immortality.”

Carapaz is only the second South American to win a Grand Tour following Nairo Quintana’s wins at the 2014 Giro d’Italia and the 2016 Vuelta a Espana. As the first Ecuadorian to win a Grand Tour, Carapaz’s achievement will inspire a generation back in his home country.

“June 2 is an indelible date in the history of Ecuadorian sport, and from now is the national day of cycling. It’s the date that Richard Carapaz became, through a superhuman performance, one of the country’s greatest sporting figures,” the piece continued.

In a country where import taxes can be a major barrier for buying a race bike and cycling in general is a poorly supported sport, it’s a significant commitment by the government to take advantage of the increased exposure cycling is currently enjoying. Abolishing the import taxes on bikes while increasing the support of cycling programs in Ecuador could lead the nation to become a hotbed for talent like its northern neighbour Colombia has become.

If the funding comes through, it will be a big change in Ecuador. “Unlike football, they did not see cycling as a favourite sport. Requesting support for cycling in Ecuador was like screaming at a deaf person,” Carapaz said in an interview following his fourth-place finish in the 2018 Giro.

@JustinTrudeau ??? https://t.co/68bsq0BHCn

— Michael Woods (@rusty_woods) June 4, 2019

The news that a federal government is abolishing the import taxes on bicycles have raised hopes amoung Canadians that if a Grand Tour title is brought back to Canada cyclists here could enjoy the same benefits. Michael Woods, a seventh-place finisher at the 2017 Vuelta a Espana is probably Canada’s most realistic Grand Tour hopeful. Ryder Hesjedal remains the only Canadian to have won a Grand Tour after taking the title at the 2012 Giro.