Richard Carapaz is King of the Mountains on Alpe d'Huez.

Richie won the queen stage of the Tour de France and clinched the polka dot climbers’ jersey with a heroic ride over the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier, and Col de Sarrenne, before launching his victorious attack up to Alpe d'Huez.

Our Olympic champion from Ecuador could not have done it without his teammates, who have raced with grit and inspiration ever since the Grand Départ in Barcelona. Ben Healy rode his heart out for Richie in the break today, taking massive pulls over the Galibier to distance the yellow jersey group and set his teammate up for the finale. Georg Steinhauser, Max Walker, Kasper Asgreen, Sean Quinn, and Michael Valgren have all done great turns of work to keep Richie out of the wind, cool, and fueled, as they lit up the race themselves over the past three weeks. This win is theirs, too.

It also belongs to all of the EF Pro Cycling staff and fans, who were jumping up and down and yelling for joy at their screens, as Richie raced up to the finish line on Alpe d'Huez.

We're going to race with the same spirit over Montmartre and onto the Champs-Élysées.

Paris, Les Roses are on their way.

"It was a brutal stage. I was always thinking about the King of the Mountains jersey. After we already secured it, everyone knew I had the jersey, and we all collaborated. Sepp was there and Jay also collaborated to maintain the distance from the main group.

"When we hit the last climb, it was a bit of a head-to-head. I knew they were great riders. The three of us there were all grand tour winners: Sepp with the Vuelta, Jay with the Giro, and I've also won the Giro, so it was hard to pull away, right?

"Rather than fall into the trap of attacking, I knew it was a very, very long effort, and I tried to find my rhythm. I think that's what helped me get there. Keeping my calm, making my effort, obviously all out, as it has to be.

"In the end, on the descent, I didn't know what had happened, and then suddenly saw Sepp and that was it, right. Those last kilometers were agonizing. Mamma mia, I suffered right until the very end.

"In my head, I was saying, 'Come on, I have to do it, I have to do it, I have to do it.'

"It was a very beautiful stage to get to raise my arms. Like they say in Italian, 'Non mollare, non mollare.' Don't give up, don't give up.

"Keeping calm, keeping a cool head. I knew those last four kilometers were going to make a huge difference. At the end, it was spectacular.

"It wasn't just about legs. It was about experience, knowing how to race, being smart, being intelligent, right? It is one of the greatest victories I've had in my sporting career." – Richard Carapaz

"We'd spoken about the King of the Mountains competition and went full in for that, spending a lot of energy. Then at the top of the Télégraphe we saw the gap and said, right, we have to reset and race for the stage. We got to the bottom of the Galibier and they were coming closer, because Bahrain were pulling, and Ben laid it down and flipped the race on its head. He brought the gap back out to 4½ minutes. And then off we went. It was amazing.

"Richie had spent a lot of energy, not just today but also the two previous days. He had two former grand tour winners with him, and everybody knew he was good, so he had a lot of eyes on him. We knew it would be a big challenge. And he just never gave up. He kept trying and trying. Even when Kuss went the second time, the gap went to 20, then 18, then 13, and he was just holding on, doing everything.

"In Barcelona we spoke about having a team-first mentality, and it's what they did throughout — staff and riders. Everything we did that was successful, you can look back and find what the other teammates did to make it happen." – Charly Wegelius, sports director

What does it take to win the queen stage of the Tour de France? With 5,624 vertical meters of climbing on the 170.9-kilometer course, it took Richard Carapaz 4,507 calories over five hours of work, with a normalized power of 322 watts. Richie's peak 20-minute power was 366 watts. His peak five-minute power was 439 watts, and his peak one-minute power was 579 watts. Richie went fast downhill, too. His top speed was 94.8 kph.

La Locomotora jumped on a train after his win on Alpe d'Huez. After all of the podium celebrations and interviews, he was driven down the mountain in a van to join his teammates on the bus, to travel to the TGV station in Grenoble, where he and the rest of the peloton got on the fast train to Paris.

Before every race that we attend, our chefs or soigneurs make a podium meal for riders whose post-race recovery process could otherwise be delayed by an awards ceremony. It needs to be easy to eat and digest and be packed full of protein and carbs. Rice and an omelet is one of Owen and Chris's go-tos. Richie has had a lot of them during his career.

Here are Chris's best tips to make a winning omelet.

Winning omelet

Start with a fully heated-through pan — not scorching, though.

Fully whisk the eggs in advance before adding them to the pan.

Jiggle and scramble the eggs until they start to take texture and set.

Kill the heat — the residual heat will continue to cook the eggs.

Now season with your favorite toppings.

After waiting 30 seconds or so, you will be able to lift the edges and roll your eggs into a luxurious omelet.

When you think about the Alps, you probably think of rocky, snowy peaks, glistening high in the sky above grassy meadows, but did you know that it's the meadows that give the Alps their name? In Alpine languages and Swiss German, alp refers to a high-mountain pasture. So, Alpe d'Huez literally means Huez's meadow. Huez is just the name of the town.