Recent content by rikvanlooy

I don't know if this statement is correct. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. It was not true for Merckx. He rode a lot and his strike rate was still enormous. We will see who will win the WCC and Lombardy.

Nobody comes close with regards the strike rate of Remco (Monuments/WCC) Remco won 3 times out of 7. Pogacar is 4 out of 15 (BTW : Pogacar is 0 out of 2 at the Clasica; Remco is 3 out of 3). Van der Poel is 4 out of 16. Van Aert is 1 out of 19. Van Aert is an underperformer. The other 3 are...

The betting odds are very low for Remco. His is the big favorite according the bookies. They don't want to take a risk with Remco. Remco has 5 out of 5 for the last 'long' one day races (LBL, Clasica, Worlds, LBL, Belgian championship). Normally he should win on Saturday. BTW : We saw Remco...

You are correct. Pogacar and Evenepoel are amazing with regards winning the big ones. Merckx had 33, Coppi 17, Hinault 16, Binda 14, Bartali 12, De Vlaeminck and Girardengo 11, Van Looy 10, Kelly 9, Van Steenbergen and Moser and Boonen and Anquetil 8. It's almost certain that Pogacar and...

Remco told journalists that he "pushed" the same watts as during his vuelta win. He was wondering what were the figures for Yates.

You are not the only one who noticed this. Some of his direct colleagues were astonished at what happened there. I was looking at the screen and I could not believe my eyes. I have never seen this before and I have been following cycling for decades. I am wondering if De Lie is not something...

A couple of years ago I saw a documentary on Bernard Hinault. At that time he was older than 50 years, but he still enjoyed riding his bike. At a certain moment he saw a "group" of pro cyclists. Bernard Hinault decided to follow them for a certain period, but it was clear from the onset that...

I was surprised at how easy it was for Remco to win sprints at the end of Vuelta stages (almost always for minor places, but still). His second stage win was also an easy one. Mas was no match at all. I am no longer certain that Remco will never win in a sprint. He improved quite a lot.

After his wonder year Tom Boonen let himself go (party drugs,...) . What does Remco do ? He trains even harder. He never gets enough of winning and he wants to improve himself : Sprinting, cobble stones, dirt roads, finishing, ... I really doubt Remco can't improve anymore. He still lacks...

What we do know, is that Remco had a lot of difficulties getting back to his normal level after his fall. We all saw this and we were getting worried. I am not sure that "mother in law" had the same impact on Pog.

Quite a number of people who saw Merckx win the world championship for amateurs in 1964 (Sallanches) were convinced they were never going to see another cyclist like Eddy. UNTIL they saw Remco win the juniors. It was with the same ease and dominance...

French article : Fort de ses quinze victoires cette saison, dont le Tour d'Espagne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège et la course en ligne des Championnats du monde, le Belge Evenepoel apparaît comme le grand favori pour succéder au Slovène Pogacar.

I am quite sure that the Vélo d'Or 2022 will go to Remco. The fact that only 4 riders were able to win a Monument, a Grand Tour and a World Championship in the same year will clinch it for him. Just look at the two names that preceded him since WOII (Hinault and Merckx). Those two are simply the...