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

[houtdffan]

This the Remco that should have showed up at the Dauphine

He'd have been on track to contend had he been where he is now, 4 weeks ago

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Can you please just change the title of this thread after the Tour?
by now, you are just mocking the young man who is an excellent bike rider.

The thread title was given during his junior period. He was a better junior than Merckx.
There is never going to be another Merckx. Not even Pogacar. We are all aware, so was the thread creator.

This the Remco that should have showed up at the Dauphine

He'd have been on track to contend had he been where he is now, 4 weeks ago

He would for sure have been better. But i doubt he would have been thát much better, unless he would have been able to start the TDF even lighter. I think in order to really compete with Pog and Vinge here, a better preparation for sure is needed, but he'll need to lose a bit more weight anyway.

The good news is, he doesn't look anything like a skeleton yet, so it's not impossible to lose some extra weight.

 

[Rackham]

This the Remco that should have showed up at the Dauphine

He'd have been on track to contend had he been where he is now, 4 weeks ago

Seriously?

He'd need to find 2:51 on one climb versus Pog.

That's quite a bit. At some point you just have to accept there's no natural way that sort of gap can be closed.

No shame either. Evenepoel did a great climb. But what happened in front belongs in a different universe.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

He’s riding very well. I think most would agree that if someone said in advance that he’d beat Pantani’s record by a minute, Remco and his fans would take it in a heartbeat. I see no reason to believe he can be at the level we’re seeing here (or saw last year from Vingegaard in the ITT) because we’ve never really seen that from anyone.

 

[Berniece]

Wasn’t able to see the race today but performance seems solid compared to others. Also nice to see Landa perform so well. Like Logic said this is something to build on. With a proper preparation and a year extra he should contest them more.

I also hope that he tries to attack in the third week. He’s far ahead of number 4, and I think UAE would give him a bit of leeway.

 

[Brullnux]

I think it's foolish to hope/expect him to reach the front two's level.

However, this is by far his best ever performance in a GT. Something to be said for that, for sure.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Great uphill performance by Remco today, he crushed all humans today (those ahead are not them).

 

[kingjr]

Great uphill performance by Remco today, he crashed all humans today (those ahead are not them).

I think that warrants a DQ

 

[dobrien]

Good, not great. Needs to lose a kg and get a year under his belt to stand a chance.

I don't know; we've got the hardest week yet to come and he's already over 5 minutes behind Pog and could easily be over 10 minutes down before this is all over. It will be very interesting to see how he handles the 3rd week, and especially the last TT. I'm a huge fan and over the moon to see how well he is riding, but the gap between him and Pog/Ving just seems so massive, I'm not sure just losing a kg and another year is going to be remotely enough to close it. He's a massive talent but unfortunately riding in the same era as two of the best climber/GT talents of all time. I would love to be proven wrong of course...

 

[red_flanders]

Can you please just change the title of this thread after the Tour?
by now, you are just mocking the young man who is an excellent bike rider.

I think you have a wrong impression on this my friend, it’s not meant that way. Allow me to pontificate…

It’s easily the best thread title on the board. It’s an homage to his Belgian heritage, his dominance as a junior, as well as a self deprecating joke about how many other riders have been pronounced the “next Merckx” on this and other boards.

The kid is doing great. The haters are losing all hope right now, what are they gonna say now?

 

[houtdffan]

I don't know; we've got the hardest week yet to come and he's already over 5 minutes behind Pog and could easily be over 10 minutes down before this is all over. It will be very interesting to see how he handles the 3rd week, and especially the last TT. I'm a huge fan and over the moon to see how well he is riding, but the gap between him and Pog/Ving just seems so massive, I'm not sure just losing a kg and another year is going to be remotely enough to close it. He's a massive talent but unfortunately riding in the same era as two of the best climber/GT talents of all time. I would love to be proven wrong of course...

He needs the 90s early 2000 courses where there were several diesel MTFs and 2 very long ITTs (plus an exceptionally long TTT and a prologue)

I'd really love to see that battle. Lets see Pog do a couple of flat 60km ITTs plus a TTT and prologue. Make Remco have to get through 3 mountain stages of today's length and climbing meters.

I suspect Vingo would win on that course

 

[Andre]

It's not over yet. Vingo"s lungs...Tadej's giro legs...mechanicals? Come on Remco..do it for Belgium...do it for cycling...do it for my friends on this CN board...do it for me...do it to defeat [[clinic: deleted]]...do it for the sake of all that is holy and glorious...Go Remco Go!!!

 

[dobrien]

He needs the 90s early 2000 courses where there were several diesel MTFs and 2 very long ITTs (plus an exceptionally long TTT and a prologue)

I'd really love to see that battle. Lets see Pog do a couple of flat 60km ITTs plus a TTT and prologue. Make Remco have to get through 3 mountain stages of today's length and climbing meters.

I suspect Vingo would win on that course

I was just thinking the exact same thing as this; some serious Indurain level time trials. It would be a lot of fun to watch and to anyone who might think the long TT's would kill the GC, I'd ask "What would be the difference between that and what we're seeing today?" I've been in the camp for quite some time that rues the emphasis on climbing at the expense of TT's, this may be a very good time to try at least one edition which balances the two out more. I've never been in love with TTT's as I always thought they had too outsized an impact on GC but I know some people have made the not invalid point that the impact on team selection can make a big difference as well. Food for thought and I wouldn't be surprised to see it; ASO is not going to love seeing what we just saw today for the next several years...

 

[Peyroteo94]

I was just thinking the exact same thing as this; some serious Indurain level time trials. It would be a lot of fun to watch and to anyone who might think the long TT's would kill the GC, I'd ask "What would be the difference between that and what we're seeing today?" I've been in the camp for quite some time that rues the emphasis on climbing at the expense of TT's, this may be a very good time to try at least one edition which balances the two out more. I've never been in love with TTT's as I always thought they had too outsized an impact on GC but I know some people have made the not invalid point that the impact on team selection can make a big difference as well. Food for thought and I wouldn't be surprised to see it; ASO is not going to love seeing what we just saw today for the next several years...

He lost 3 minutes today on a proper mountain stage... even if we have 100 km of TT, he will still lose 10 minutes in the mountains.

 

[Ulle97]

He lost 3 minutes today on a proper mountain stage... even if we have 100 km of TT, he will still lose 10 minutes in the mountains.

We need a few MTFs like
Station de Rousses
Pra Loup
Orcieres Merlette
Superbesse
Cauterets

Then x2 50km ITTs, a TTT and a 12km prologue.

Then he might have a chance.

 

[durtyfat7]

Wasn’t able to see the race today but performance seems solid compared to others. Also nice to see Landa perform so well. Like Logic said this is something to build on. With a proper preparation and a year extra he should contest them more.

I also hope that he tries to attack in the third week. He’s far ahead of number 4, and I think UAE would give him a bit of leeway.

Yeah, it would be great if Remco attacks with Landa, and who knows maybe they can both get the podium if one of the 2 monsters have a big issue

 

[Didinho]

He stole candy from someone. The race is back on!

 

[Berniece]

He lost 3 minutes today on a proper mountain stage... even if we have 100 km of TT, he will still lose 10 minutes in the mountains.

Right, we haven't had a proper mountain stage yet this Tour...

 

[Peyroteo94]

Right, we haven't had a proper mountain stage yet this Tour...

What?

 

[houtdffan]

what is his schedule the rest of the year

surely its more than just Olympics and Worlds

Probably should head to the Vuelta. He lost so many racing days due to his injuries

 

[AmRacer]

what is his schedule the rest of the year

surely its more than just Olympics and Worlds

Probably should head to the Vuelta. He lost so many racing days due to his injuries

Classica San Remco

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Why is the title so important anyway? It is what it is, it's from 6 years ago, live with it.

And people will complain about such things no matter how old the title is.

 

[Lequack]

From his Twitter. Really fought hard today, kudos to him. I think if Roglic was still in the race they would've battled each other for 3rd today no doubt.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1812547579789348927

View: https://x.com/EvenepoelRemco/status/1812547579789348927

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

And people will complain about such things no matter how old the title is.

Let them cry about it.

They should first focus on the Wilco Kelderman thread title before they continue crying about this title.

 

[Vudy]

I'm not a Remco fan. But he is racing phenomenally and kudos to him. Punching above his weight /s...