"It's a super nice day, surprisingly I felt strong, I expected to suffer a lot more". I've been waiting all the Vuelta for the right moment and today this moment was unexpected, ' he said.
"It was a really hard time trial, but I'm very happy with the result, we have come to win the Vuelta and it is still the goal", said Carapaz.
Britain's Hugh Carthy is on the verge of an unexpected third place at the Vuelta a Espana with Primoz Roglic set to win.
The course was mainly flat, but the last two and a half kilometers were up a tough climb, with ramps of up to 16 percent gradient to the finish line and consequently most of the riders opted to swap from a special time trial bike to a normal bike to take on the climb. However, the Ecuadorian could only gain 21 seconds by the line - not enough to overall Roglic's advantage.
Eleventh at 1:55 on the San Marino time trial in the Giro a year ago, Carapaz had repeatedly said before Tuesday that he has put in some hard work on the discipline over the winter, and it appeared to pay dividends in the Vuelta.
Thursday's 15th stage will be the longest of the Vuelta this year, taking riders 230 kilometres through a winding terrain that will favour escapes at the front.
Richard Carapaz, the race leader after stage 12, finished seventh, and the Ineos Grenadiers rider now trails Roglic by 39 seconds.
The three-week race, being held amid tight health restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic, finishes on Sunday in Madrid.
Roglič's margin has enabled him both to regain the overall lead on Carapaz but by a relatively scant 39 seconds, with Carthy remaining in a much boosted third place overall at 47 seconds.
Carapaz will take his narrow 10-second lead at the top into Monday's rest day before heading into the last week of racing, starting with Tuesday's 33.7km time-trial - a discipline usually favoured by former ski-jumper Roglič, who still tops the green jersey points rankings, a healthy 43 points ahead of Carapaz. "But I am enjoying myself".
