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

[Jagartrott]

If he doesn't crash, doesn't get ill and doesn't have a complete off-day, he should be able to podium. A lot of ifs, and still Pogacar seems to be in a league of his own at the moment. I think the upcoming TT will be close.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

If I was Tadej I would no sleep well at night knowing remco was behind me in GC.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

sure he is, still waiting for that time that he will beat pogacar; will NEVER happen

 

[Froome]

If I was Tadej I would no sleep well at night knowing remco was behind me in GC.

He is got now Slimco behind him. Slimco is more dangerous than Remco.

 

[red_flanders]

sure Tour; as a Pog fan I dont see Remco as a threat, he will lose a lot of time on at least one climb, will be top 10 in the end.

First part fair, he’s not a threat to Pogi. Only Vingo and MVDP are, depending on the race and whether it’s a A race for them.

The second part…sounds like maybe you’re not adjusting your opinion to current facts? Hard to see assessing Remco as top 10. Right now he looks like the 3rd strongest in the race and could well win the TT.

 

[tobydawq]

I know he ended up being out-punched near the top and then put in his place on the descent, but my God, he looked like he was absolutely floating on the Galibier.

I was skeptical as to his form when I heard he had shipped 2.5 kgs since the Dauphiné because I don't think it's particularly performance boosting to be energy deficient for lengthy periods of times just before a competition, but so far it seems to have worked for him.

But why was he Fatco at the Dauphiné? It seems to have deteriorated into a meme but I assume there must be a reason? Is it just incompetence on his trainer's part?

 

[houtdffan]

He wasn't even breathing on the Galiber

which is why I said he made the mistake of just not setting his crushing tempo

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I know he ended up being out-punched near the top and then put in his place on the descent, but my God, he looked like he was absolutely floating on the Galibier.

I was skeptical as to his form when I heard he had shipped 2.5 kgs since the Dauphiné because I don't think it's particularly performance boosting to be energy deficient for lengthy periods of times just before a competition, but so far it seems to have worked for him.

But why was he Fatco at the Dauphiné? It seems to have deteriorated into a meme but I assume there must be a reason? Is it just incompetence on his trainer's part?

The crash in Itzulia. He was off the bike 3 weeks and puts on weight like a champ. And he did specific exercise for his shoulder (and maybe collarbone) to strengthen the muscles in that area.

 

[rghysens]

His descending was not very good but in the end he only loses 18s to Pogacar from the top to the finish. There have been GC riders who lost minutes on descends.

But it is one of the other issues the team was supposed to address 3 yeas ago. They were going to have him do some training on cornering at high speeds with a MotoGP friend of Cavendish (when they were still team mates). Never happened. But since Evenepoel descends "well" on training, they assume he will do the same when riding 20kmh faster for GC in the biggest race of all and the issue got solved by itself.

Didn´t he do some descent training with Alaphilippe?

 

[topcat]

I'm one of the 15 smart people to pick Remco to win the tour and I've seen nothing to change my mind in the first 4 days. I'm a neutral observer but I might become a fan some day.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1808192639960744184

View: https://x.com/L_Calmejane/status/1808192639960744184

 

[Peyroteo94]

Even Tom Steels said Pogacar is out of reach and some folks think Remco has a chance. Barring a crash, Remco should lose a lot in stages 14 and 15 to Pogacar.

 

[houtdffan]

Remco should do an all out raid on stage 11

 

[Tim Cahill]

Anything could happen to Pogacar you know, he's on his 2nd GC, maybe he finally runs out of gas, maybe Vingegaard is bluffing and he won't do *** in week 3 . Two tts coming up too, and he claims his plan is to get better throughout the race. He has a chance.

 

[red_flanders]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1808192639960744184

View: https://x.com/L_Calmejane/status/1808192639960744184

Translated:

"Something tells me Remco is going to surprise us. Some shortcomings on the descent but he is at his ideal weight and manages very well. Overpowering on the flat and enduring, I see him in yellow on Friday evening."

I'd love to see it. Hard to believe given Pogi's form, but would be special for him to have yellow for a bit.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Remco evenepol as a tour de France champion. Belgium can dare to dream, but you don't have to be a Belge to appreciate the prowess of a remco. The belgi spilak they used to call him in knowledgeble circles, now they are rumours he is the belge Hinault.

 

[houtdffan]

"I am not 100% yet" - Remco Evenepoel puts on great performance on first Tour de France mountain stage but can improve further

Remco Evenepoel looked to be missing climbing capaci

cyclinguptodate.com

Remco, despite riding at Robo Remco Robotnik levels today, says he's not 100%

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Even Tom Steels said Pogacar is out of reach and some folks think Remco has a chance. Barring a crash, Remco should lose a lot in stages 14 and 15 to Pogacar.

Steels was talking about stage 4. Not about GC in Nice. Maybe we should not count our chickens before they hatch. I can see a scenario for Pogacar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard where each of them fade in week 3. Pogacar because he's been racing hard all season and already rode the Giro. Vingegaard because he needed to race against the clock to get ready. Evenepoel because he might have tried to lose the needed weight too fast. After all, uphill so far Pog was 8 seconds better than Vingegaard, and 23 seconds better than Evenepoel.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

It's not flat. It wouldn't shock me if Remco wins by 30 seconds, but I think that's optimistic. It also wouldn't shock me if Pogi wins by 10. The rest of the times are more what I was reacting to. I don't see him taking a minute out of Roglič, that would be shocking.

A minute on Roglic is extremely unlikely, but Remco will take a minute from Vingegaard,

This is the world ITT champion, who appears to be on good form and has been gobbing up everyone on the flat. As long as he keeps his nose clean on stage and 5 and 6 he's going to crush the ITT.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Evenepoel can be very satisfied about the first four stages. He proved that he can handle the high mountains. He looks on course for the third place in the GC. He's the third best climber and he can gain time in the time trials.

His team is doing well. Landa and Van Wilder can support him in the mountain stages. Lampaert and Moscon can help him through the gravel stage. Vervaeke can always be counted upon.

The most dangerous descent was yesterday, and he got through it well. The Tourmalet and the Cime de la Bonette also have a difficult descent, but he only needs to stay with the group there.

Doubts have been erased. The Tour is still very long, but if he can avoid a bad day a podium spot is possible. He can become the best Belgian stage racer since Lucien Van Impe.

 

[Berniece]

People can’t expect a TT as well as in the dauphine, or WC last year. He is much leaner now, he won’t have the same output. He’ll still win, but the difference won’t be as big. Doubt he’ll take more than 30s on Pogacar.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

People can’t expect a TT as well as in the dauphine, or WC last year. He is much leaner now, he won’t have the same output. He’ll still win, but the difference won’t be as big. Doubt he’ll take more than 30s on Pogacar.

I think most of that lost weight was upper body. Impact on watts could be small. I also think his Dauphiné TT wasn't stellar. That TT had more climbing in it as well. His overall form should be considerably better, but so will the competition.

 

[Mayomaniac]

We need Slimco more than 3 weeks a year!

He really is the Belgian Ulle!

 

[Valv.Piti]

He wasn't even breathing on the Galiber

which is why I said he made the mistake of just not setting his crushing tempo

This makes sense if not for the headwind. With the headwind, I don't think you do that. It will be a lot more straightforward once we hit climbs like Plateau de Beille and Isola where we expect Remco and Jonas to just launch all over and then we could see Remco just time trialing to the top

 

[rghysens]

Before this tour I was very skeptical about Evenepoels abilities:
*) on high mountains (never performed well above 2000m, although he barely raced at that altitude)
*) on really difficult climbs (combination of length and gradient)
*) during a succession of multiple climbs
*) towards the end of a gt (in all 4 gt´s he has raced so far, his first half was undeniably better than the second half).

Yesterday´s stage has at least convinced me about his high altitude capabilities. Stage 14 will sort out the next two question marks and stage 19 the last one. But let´s not forget that the mountains in stage 4 suited his "aerobullet" capabilities very well (low gradient, so high speed, so aerodynamics play a larger role). The long flats between climbs in stage 15 should also suit him.