Richard Calapaz (opens in new tab) (Team Ineos) will resume action at the Vuelta a Burgos on July 28 and will race the Tour de Pollogne and Tirreno Adriatico to defend his Giro d'Italia (opens in new tab) title in October.

Prior to resuming his season, the Ecuadorian native explained his program to the EFE news agency from his home province of Calci, where he is currently training before returning to Europe in July.

Karapas joined Team Ineos (open in new tab) from Movistar ahead of the 2020 season and competed in just one Tour Colombia with his new team before the season was interrupted in March by a coronavirus outbreak.

"It's like starting all over again, and I'm spending a lot of time in base training periods. The big objective is to compete in the Giro d'Italia, arrive in the best possible condition, and try to do what I've been doing for the last few years."

Karapas won the maglia rosa at the 2019 Giro d'Italia ahead of Vincenzo Nibali and Primoz Roglic after claiming stage wins in Frascati and Courmayeur, finishing fourth overall at the 2018 Giro, Montevergine di Mercogliano, where he took a stage win.

The 27-year-old signed on to lead the Ineos team in the Giro, and despite the revised 2020 calendar, Corsarosa remains at the center of his season.

Karapas will not be part of the Ineos team for the Tour de France, and the last three winners, Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, and Chris Froome, will be part of the eight-man selection.

Calapaz will instead ride the Vuelta a Burgos (July 28-August 1), Tour de Pollogne (August 5-9), and Tirreno Adriatico (September 7-14) to prepare for the Giro. The Giro is scheduled for October 3-25, and Carapas' Italian rivals include Nibali, Remco Evenpole, and Jacob Hulsang.

"Ultimately, it will be a different year than we are used to," Karapas said.

"The calendar will be compressed to just three months and there will be many surprises. We've never trained so many days at home before.