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Recent content by wickedw

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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    It's nice to win the KOM jersey I guess, but, unless you win it as a GC contestant, it means very little. It wasn't really contested and it's not surprising that Remco could win it once he's allowed to go into breaks... It's a consolation prize, at best. I would quietly collect it and move on.
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    I'm a fan but I think there is a time when we also have to place proper critique at the rider and the team. The word that has appeared in my head a lot this year when it comes down to SQS is amateur. And I think I've been unfair with only putting that on the team. Remco also shows a lot of...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Actually I argued quite the opposite, which I guess you missed. I argued in earlier posts that he shouldn't have phoned it in, which was the only comparison made with Almeida, and then go all out in attack which would have been truly spectacular.
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    What about it ages poorly? I was never comparing Evenepoel his ability with Almeidas. My whole point was that he let gc slide while the other one didn't. The difference lays in the very approach. Remco decided to phone it in and as a result he can go for stages. If he hadn't he could've...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Yeah as much as I am on the gc thing, I'm happy for him and that he can bounce back with a win. Clearly means a lot to him since he likely felt like he let everyone down yesterday. Well done.
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Yes, I don't know what point you're arguing. I know he can only do this because he's down 30 min. You're the one who called it spectacular, not me. And my whole point has been that as a gc rider he should have gone for gc and not turn this vuelta into a stage hunt, which he did whe he phoned it...
  7. W

    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    I disagree, I believe fully in Remcos ability to win multiple stages in any tour he rides, if he just goes for stage wins. Our definition of a "a ton of stages" is likely different. I'm also not claiming it would work out every time, but how often did you see a break with Remco fail? I'm not...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Is it really that spectacular? We already know he can do this. If he wants he can do this all the time and win a ton of stages in any tour. If he wants to be the type of rider that does these things then by all means. If he wants to be a gc rider then no. Also if he feels better today what...
  9. W

    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Yes, salvage a top 10, if possible. You can see it as training on riding a gc if you like. I would be more impressed by an effort to do that than just going for stage wins if this was indeed "just a bad day". As I said, phoning it in is psychological and I didn't expect him to do that as he has...
  10. W

    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    The problem I have with the "just a bad day" explination is that, first off, that's one hell of a bad day but also that he just phoned it in at some point. Almeida dropped earlier but kept fighting to retain a chance at top 10, and he managed. This phoning it in could potentially mean he can go...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Obviously this performance is way off. His climbing ability, even if "unproven", is still better than his team, which he could barely follow. What is wrong? We'll hear an excuse later. He's been showing weaknesses throughout this vuelta already, including the ITT. So I kind of saw it coming, but...
  12. W

    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    Let's shelve yesterdays performance for a little while and dissect the whole race a bit. Do we know what happened during break formation? We didn't have any footage and I haven't really heard or read anything specific about it. That suddenly a group of 40+ riders including 4 jumbo's with sep...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    That's an even weaker team than I expected. Why isn't Alaphilippe going? He isn't going to win anywhere in the meantime.. Guess we'll see some guys drop off at the start of the last climb because "they weren't needed anymore for the rest of the stage". I guess I sort of understand the absence...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    I would actually argue that Mas was a bigger contestant in the Vuelta than Roglic last year, he was in superb form at the end of the season... But that's a pointless opinion and discussion since we'll never know. But I agree with you, aside from winning the Vuelta, nothing has been proven yet...
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    Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

    My bad, only half following all the pointless discussions here lately, I thought we were still on one day races. Apologies. To be on topic then: There are no results to back up his GT potential besides the Vuelta and his performance in one week races. He's only ever finished one GT and won it...