Paris-Nice 2024, March 3-10

[repre]

It's nice that he always has an eloquent explanation for why he didn't win. Interesting that that explanation is never 'the winner was better than me today'. Remco is truly the greatest.

He is lebron james of cycling

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Bennett Roglič is a thief. 5-6 million a year and the guy doesn't have a single top 10 finish yet. Even Froome has made multiple attacks this season.

Joking aside, it's a shame that the weather made it an unfair fight between the best teams, but that's racing. It's UAE's race to lose at the moment, but I guess no one will be overly surprised if they manage to do that. R and R might have to team up for a bit to break them, which could be interesting.

 

[Netserk]

"If you see that we outclassed the entire pack in the first part..."

Outclassed? They took less than 4" on Bora in the first half.

 

[Elos Anjos]

Remco interview

You don't want to lose a time trial due to natural circumstances.

But Remco, you yourself are just a pro rider because of natural circumstances.

"chassez le naturel il revient au galop".

 

[Berflamand]

Joking aside, it's a shame that the weather made it an unfair fight between the best teams, but that's racing. It's UAE's race to lose at the moment, but I guess no one will be overly surprised if they manage to do that. R and R might have to team up for a bit to break them, which could be interesting.

Maybe Remco and Roglic joining forces against UAE in the next stages can bring this forum together!

 

[kn0s]

Outclassed? They took less than 4" on Bora in the first half.

But what did that do to the team though, they died.

 

[joseph89]

Outclassed? They took less than 4" on Bora in the first half.

bora blew they whole team to pieces to stay within 4".

 

[KZD]

Remco needs to learn keeping his mouth shut sometimes.

What does he gain by calling out an ex-teammate like De Clercq to the press?

If De Clercq did something that affected Quick-Step performance, it would have make much more sense talking directly with him to clear things out.

 

[Berniece]

QS lost 23.3 seconds to EF (who started 8 minutes earlier) in the second half. Did they just not prepare properly?

First of all, SOQ already said they think it’s not only the weather.
Secondly, you think it was the plan of Bora to be with 3 people for half of the race?

Keep digging that hole deeper

 

[SHAD0W93]

If anyone from Jumbo did anything like that to Bora, there would be a massive amount of backlash towards everyone being prejudiced against Roglic and it’s him against the world.

 

[tobydawq]

Nah.

There was no perfect strategy. Soudal were almost complete going into the final & they still lost a bulk of time. The issue for Rog & Bora was any attempt to save men would have meant a much slower first split, at which point there's no good choice really.

I don't think this holds given that Soudal was fastest at the intermediate split - so they rode the fastest on the hills. I still don't understand what happened to them.

 

[Unchained]

I would love to see him attack even if he does die trying.

Again still early season, but personally and team opinion is he is ready, so regardless if these races are the jump ramp to re-enter grand tours he is doing the things that got results before, doesn't embarrass himself in time trials and is climbing near the front and he is answering from time to time to big attacks and attacking on his own.
I think w Uran, Wout and now Bernal more riders are going to pick early Colombia events over Tour Down Under. It's looking like some solid prep work..We will need to wait to see what early fruit Rwanda will yield.
I am excited to see him comeback.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Maybe Remco and Roglic joining forces against UAE in the next stages can bring this forum together!

Yeah, it would be just like the time that one Dragon Ball guy Goku teamed up with the other guy Piccolo to fight the third one Raditz.

 

[Netserk]

If anyone from Jumbo did anything like that to Bora, there would be a massive amount of backlash towards everyone being prejudiced against Roglic and it’s him against the world.

Do you have an example of a similar occurrence that led to such a reaction?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Gear was stuck on the last climb and it was raining and also Tim Declercq

 

[Berflamand]

Remco needs to learn keeping his mouth shut sometimes.

What does he gain by calling out an ex-teammate like De Clercq to the press?

If De Clercq did something that affected Quick-Step performance, it would have make much more sense talking directly with him to clear things out.

I don't like him calling out Declercq like that and this should indeed have been handled internally but I also don't want Remco to learn to keep his mouth shut. Most of the times it's refreshing to hear him say everything that is on his mind but I got to admit that sometimes he says stuff that I don't agree with or that he shouldn't have said to the press.

But I'd rather have blunt and honest answers (even when sometimes controversial) over media-trained stereotypical answers everyday. It's also a gift for neverending discussions on this forum.

Anyway I do hope they talk it out quickly and this doesn't leave any scars.

 

[Keldergoat]

On a day where the forum was busy doing anthropological analyses on the national character of 'the Belgian' in the Uijtdebroeks thread, Remco is putting some mayonnaise on the fire by calling out a loyal former teammate.

 

[SafeBet]

In addition to the weather, according to Evenepoel, there was another "bad moment" that disrupted Soudal-Quick Step's plans. Starring ex-teammate Tim Declercq .

"He kept driving in front of us in a technical bend and did not move out of the way,"

"A thank you to him. That was really nasty. Tim may have been an ex-teammate, but you don't do something like that. Did he do it on purpose? I hope not, but it is possible." 😬

Overtaking a tractor is always a challenge. Being Belgian, Remco should know better.

 

[pelotonIQ]

I kind of like the idea of putting TTTs in 1 week stage races, adds a bit of chaos to the GC mix.

 

[Berflamand]

I don't like him calling out Declercq like that and this should indeed have been handled internally but I also don't want Remco to learn to keep his mouth shut. Most of the times it's refreshing to hear him say everything that is on his mind but I got to admit that sometimes he says stuff that I don't agree with or that he shouldn't have said to the press.

But I'd rather have blunt and honest answers (even when sometimes controversial) over media-trained stereotypical answers everyday. It's also a gift for neverending discussions on this forum.

Anyway I do hope they talk it out quickly and this doesn't leave any scars.

Apparently Remco already apologised in person to Declercq for his statements. Good.

 

[joseph89]

UCI just banned the aero-sock and has put the giro helmet under investigation.

lets see if they ban ineos visor airflow deflector

 

[Krzysztof_O]

UAE strikes again! (after Ayuso beat Ganna yesterday) They have some TT setup, don't they? Huge negative turnaround for QS, was it associated with the weather? (maybe wind change + rain). Bora guys lost substantial time, Rogla should attack if he wants to win.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I kind of like the idea of putting TTTs in 1 week stage races, adds a bit of chaos to the GC mix.

It's too big game changer in a one-week race but each cyclist having his own time makes it more fair regarding team strength differences.

 

[Froome]

Not much has been said about Jorgenson, but i think he will impress on this race.

 

[Netserk]

UAE strikes again! (after Ayuso beat Ganna yesterday) They have some TT setup, don't they? Huge negative turnaround for QS, was it associated with the weather? (maybe wind change + rain). Bora guys lost substantial time, Rogla should attack if he wants to win.

Like in the Tour, they are not fast in the hilly section. Must be heavier than Specialized and Cervélo.