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

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Must say Wonderkid has surprised me immensely so far in this Tour edition.
His takes, his evident loss of weight, his focus every stage not to surpass limit, except where it makes fully sense, surely benefits him still hanging onto GC podium spot.

Until just a week ago I was sure he would crack heavily on the high mountain stages still left of Plateau de Beille, Cîme de la Bonette du Restefond and Isola 2000.

Now I'm not so sure. He sends plenty of good vibes and excess attitudes.

Looking back over his shoulder he has established quite safe margin, Rogla gone (r.i.p. ) and just focussing on himself without misses, he could even perhaps grab for further step up the ladder if the Vinge guy stretches the bow a tad too much striving for overall victory and, hence, crack the Pogi Loze way.

Remco has surely matured in stage racing. Not taking any of his Vuelta from him.

But his display during these days is IMO a giant step speaking GT

 

[Valv.Piti]

Remco: "Jonas dropped me today, maybe tomorrow it will be the other way around"

Danish July-fans: ?!)=")!")=!")=!")(=?()?%%#¤¤#(="/#("#(//&%&%"/(#!

 

[James M]

Impossible to not love those two I think they will race more vs eachother from now on and holy will that be epic and what every cycle fans surely want? Mainly cause Remco is the guy closest in power and also the way he just approach racing its impossible to not love em. This bromance from them been my biggest surprise this Tour and also the most epic besides pog performance breaking climb today I would say thats equal to this bromance. Looks good for years to come for everyone!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1812150715176898741

View: https://x.com/LeTour/status/1812150715176898741

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco: "Jonas dropped me today, maybe tomorrow it will be the other way around"

Danish July-fans: ?!)=")!")=!")=!")(=?()?%%#¤¤#(="/#("#(//&%&%"/(#!

It's not just the Danish July fans who's cages he seems to be rattling.
But it's interesting that on one hand he is repeatedly claiming Pogi is so far ahead to even think about beating him, but somehow he makes these claims, while so far -except for today- Pogi has not really seemed that much stronger uphill than Vingegaard.

 

[red_flanders]

If he survives the steep part (about 500 metres more or so), he's good. Exploding like that towards Vingegaards wheel instead of being right on it might very well have costed him those 31 seconds today.

Hmmmm....could be. He was on that wheel for a while. I think rather Vingo just ground him down like he did with Roglič. I mean one could say a combo of both, and that's probably not wrong, but that wasn't a very long acceleration.

 

[red_flanders]

Remco: "Jonas dropped me today, maybe tomorrow it will be the other way around"

Danish July-fans: ?!)=")!")=!")=!")(=?()?%%#¤¤#(="/#("#(//&%&%"/(#!

He really said that? I mean great, love the confidence and he's a champion so he has to believe it, but...nah.

 

[jmdirt]

Way to battle young man!

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I am expecting him to lose some time to Rodriguez tomorrow (anything from 10 seconds to a minute doesn’t seem unrealistic) and really kickstart the battle for 3rd in the last week. So far everything been looking good for Remco, but Rodriguez looks better and better and the big mountains is where he shines.

 

[red_flanders]

I am expecting him to lose some time to Rodriguez tomorrow (anything from 10 seconds to a minute doesn’t seem unrealistic) and really kickstart the battle for 3rd in the last week. So far everything been looking good for Remco, but Rodriguez looks better and better and the big mountains is where he shines.

Just thinking about what CR would have to do to make this a battle. So Remco is like 3:47 up on Rodriguez with a tough TT to come? Remco took 1:27 out of him on the last one?

Anything's possible but losing a minute to Rodriguez isn't something I'd put any money on. CR hasn't finished ahead of Remco on any meaningful stage yet.

Rodriguez cracking seems at least as likely as Remco cracking, no? Didn't he finish 13+ minutes out last year? TBH I don't recall where he lost all that time, but...

I do really feel like Remco's talents get judged by a vastly different metric than all the other non-mutants. We can all poo-poo his Vuelta win, but how many GT's has Rodriguez won? I think his notable wins are Romandie and a Tour stage, yes? I'm sure he'll win a lot more and have a very nice career. I agree it's much more his kind of course in the mountains than the previous terrain. He's been quite good in the high mountains the last couple of years, but Remco is clearly the third strongest rider in this race, isn't he?

I think he'd have to be 2 mins up on Remco in Nice to feel at all secure on the podium, no? Not seeing where he's grabbing 5.5 or 6 mins before the final TT.

 

[stekelegel]

Nobody in the field from 4th place is good enough to put that amount of time on Remco, the thing that can beat him, is having his regular day off in the high mountains. But he has been riding pretty conservatively until now preserving energy. Or maybe UAE deciding the tour is won and getting Yates or Almeida on a break, that could hurt him to. Only 3 more stages to survive.

 

[Nick2413]

Nobody in the field from 4th place is good enough to put that amount of time on Remco, the thing that can beat him, is having his regular day off in the high mountains. But he has been riding pretty conservatively until now preserving energy. Or maybe UAE deciding the tour is won and getting Yates or Almeida on a break, that could hurt him to. Only 3 more stages to survive.

Even without the off day I could see Rodriguez or others taking a minute or more per stage for each of those 3 now that the race is getting deeper in. He needs to not get ahead of himself and stick to his own race but should be good for 3rd

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Nobody in the field from 4th place is good enough to put that amount of time on Remco, the thing that can beat him, is having his regular day off in the high mountains. But he has been riding pretty conservatively until now preserving energy. Or maybe UAE deciding the tour is won and getting Yates or Almeida on a break, that could hurt him to. Only 3 more stages to survive.

His regular day off in the high mountains. Could you please point out those regular occurrences?
Vuelta '23, stage 13.
The end.

I can hope we are all sane enough not to count his '21 Giro. And even in the '22 Vuelta, the time he lost to Roglic on the two stages combined, where Roglic was going to "destroy" him on the HC climbs, was one minute. Two days after he crashed.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

So, is he happy now with his 3rd spot, or will he go for Vingo in second? Is he gonna fight for something better or stick with what he's got and defend. He's done well so far, so he could try and pressure Vingo (or even Pog if he has a bad day), knowing he still has time in hand plus an ITT to come. Stick or twist? I'm hoping for Rodriguez to have a good day today, to keep Remco on his toes, along with Almeida.

 

[Berniece]

So, is he happy now with his 3rd spot, or will he go for Vingo in second? Is he gonna fight for something better or stick with what he's got and defend. He's done well so far, so he could try and pressure Vingo (or even Pog if he has a bad day), knowing he still has time in hand plus an ITT to come. Stick or twist? I'm hoping for Rodriguez to have a good day today, to keep Remco on his toes, along with Almeida.

If he feels good and thinks he can drop others he’ll attack but otherwise he’ll follow

 

[Valv.Piti]

CR is no joke. I think he's by far the most talented rider out of that 4-12th range, and being in 5th already for a rider like him is already quite impressive given the route so far. I think CR will be stronger than Remco today as well, at least the difference between them will level out, and C-Rod's biggest strength is exactly what necessarily isn't Remco's - great diesel climbing and great consistency. As for last year, C-Rod would easily have finished on the podium if he hadn't had that crash, so lets pump the brakes on that one. He was good last year, but has looked better so far in 2024, so its only natural his level should be a couple of percentages higher than 2023.

Podium is far from secure, but he can take a big step today obviously, but C-Rod is a genuine threat unlike all the other riders.

 

[Salvarani]

I think what is important is how deep Remco has had to dig in these stages and how he recovers, which is anyones guess atm. It is difficult to answer.

Judging by his comments he is talking about being better than Vinge, so sounds like he is hardly thinking about those behind him atm.

A bad day today and he will have to reconsider. Maybe chasing after the attacks from Pog/Vinge too many times and risk blowing up might come back to bite him.

C. Rod is steady as a rock and will likely get better relative to others. Today and stage 19 should suit him the best of what is left, where it is possible to lose minutes on a bad day.

 

[red_flanders]

Oh, he's thinking about folks behind him. We all saw that glance at the line today. He didn't like that there was anyone in sight at the end. But he's also a champion and thinking about what might be.

 

[TrekCyclist]

I would really like to see Evi and Vingo work together and put pressure on Pogi on the penultimate climb today or stage 19. Not sure, if we are gonna see it, though.

 

[Prim]

I´m pretty sure he wants another stage win other than a TT. Both the Wednesday and Thursday stages are within the realm of possibilties considering his strengths imho. Especially the one to Barcelonnette. If he recovers well on Monday I hope he goes for it!

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I am expecting him to lose some time to Rodriguez tomorrow (anything from 10 seconds to a minute doesn’t seem unrealistic) and really kickstart the battle for 3rd in the last week. So far everything been looking good for Remco, but Rodriguez looks better and better and the big mountains is where he shines.

Love to be proven wrong. Remco defending his third place like a boss and Landa is the best Spaniard!

 

[dazaau]

I am very impressed with Remco. Solid. Riding a fantastic tour.

 

[magliaroz]

He is not the first of the humans, he is the third (mini) alien!
And he is 2 years younger than Tadej so there is still room for improvement.

 

[Wvv]

Cum laude performances in the Pyrenees. Proud Belgian here. Let's get that white and final podium.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He is not the first of the humans, he is the third (mini) alien!
And he is 2 years younger than Tadej so there is still room for improvement.

16 months
But this is certainly something to build on.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He is not the first of the humans, he is the third (mini) alien!
And he is 2 years younger than Tadej so there is still room for improvement.

He is 15 months younger... Forget it mate, he is too far... maybe in other era he would be a multiple tour de france winner, not in this era with 2 aliens, both of them are top5 climbers of all times. This is like Messi vs Ronaldo in football