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

[AmRacer]

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

Jonas thread seems to be a changing.

 

[AmRacer]

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

Oh no, not the weight issue again.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Let them cry about it.

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

But would we actually be able to agree on that as a community? I personally find the Roglič thread title to be the most offensive, closely followed by the UAE one because it has the word team in it without quotes around it.

 

[AmRacer]

But would we actually be able to agree on that as a community? I personally find the Roglič thread title to be the most offensive, closely followed by the UAE one because it has the word team in it without quotes around it.

It's about time to change name of the Rogla thread.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It's about time to change name of the Rogla thread.

It shouldn't have been changed in the first place.

 

[AmRacer]

It shouldn't have been changed in the first place.

Enric Mas thread.......

 

[red_flanders]

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

I would say he's performing at/near the high end of the expected range.

 

[RJH]

Evenepoel is a fighter, well deserved 3rd.

Super TTer, climber, and hard fighter - glad his terrible fall from the Lombardy bridge is behind him, and he‘s back to his best.

He can win the Tour in future times, no doubt.

 

[red_flanders]

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

Newish poster, probably doesn't get the context. @pihi42 Hopefully we all (myself included) didn't jump too much down your throat. Keep posting!

 

[Rackham]

Evenepoel is a fighter, well deserved 3rd.

Super TTer, climber, and hard fighter - glad his terrible fall from the Lombardy bridge is behind him, and he‘s back to his best.

He can win the Tour in future times, no doubt.

Pog is only a year older than Evenepoel.

 

[red_flanders]

Pog is only a year older than Evenepoel.

But if you account for the injury, you're kinda seeing Evenepoel at 23 or so, with his palmares. Crazy. But Pog is just a freakazoid...

I would be surprised at this point if Remco doesn't find himself to at least 1 Tour win.

 

[AmRacer]

But if you account for the injury, you're kinda seeing Evenepoel at 23 or so, with his palmares. Crazy. But Pog is just a freakazoid...

I would be surprised at this point if Remco doesn't find himself to at least 1 Tour win.

It depends how often he tries and who he will race against. And also if he focuses on the Tour only.

 

[red_flanders]

It depends how often he tries and who he will race against. And also if he focuses on the Tour only.

I agree. But looking at things overall, if he stays in the mix for the next 5 years, I bet things work out for him to get one.

 

[Rackham]

But if you account for the injury, you're kinda seeing Evenepoel at 23 or so, with his palmares. Crazy. But Pog is just a freakazoid...

I would be surprised at this point if Remco doesn't find himself to at least 1 Tour win.

Maybe I'm overly negative but I'd describe Evenepoel's Tour as bittersweet.

'Sweet' because he's shown he's absolutely a top tier climber in the TdF. He destroyed Carlos Rodriguez today. It was very impressive (some doubted he could do it). He's not fading either, in fact he seems better now than he was on the Galibier. Add his ITT superiority on top of that & you get a really, really good GT rider.

But it's also 'bitter' because there are two riders above him. Not just slightly above but seriously in a little world of their own. The worst part for Evenepoel is they're only 25 & 27 years old.

Evenepoel is now in the same situation Roglič was in, i.e. he needs something to happen to both of these guys to win the Tour. Otherwise he's going to be riding around France finishing third for five years straight.

 

[pihi42]

Hopefully we all (myself included) didn't jump too much down your throat. Keep posting!

Of course not! I have great respect for Remco, him having also similarities with Rogla (who I am a fan of), changing the sport and so on.
In contrast to our country though, the expectiations for a Belgian rider are astronomical, and that can be a great burden and an unfair one. Funny that from now on the expectations of a Slovenian rider will be much greater as well, so we'll try not to repeat the mistakes.
Anyway, I wanted to hear the reasons behind the thread title. I don't think, unless you're a hard-core fan, it really comes across as a joke. And now after 6 years it even sounds like politicians not wanting to change opinion, ever.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
Keep on rocking, Remco!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Pog is only a year older than Evenepoel.

Roglic is 9 years older than Pog, why on earth were people thinking he could still win the TDF? As we speak, there are people in the Roglic thread saying "he'd be 2nd now if he hadn't crashed out" lol.

Pog made a huge leap this year compared to last year. Vingegaard is supposedly (according to Visma) pushing his best watts, comparable to last year. It's Evenepoel's first TDF and his prep was hardly perfect, but for him it is apparently impossible to improve like Pog did, for him it's not possible to lose a bit more weight. In fact, in the race topic people are insinuating he should stop being a GC/GT rider, because he'll only finish 3rd. I guess whoever finishes off the podium should just go work in a factory or something.

 

[red_flanders]

Maybe I'm overly negative but I'd describe Evenepoel's Tour as bittersweet.

'Sweet' because he's shown he's absolutely a top tier climber in the TdF. He destroyed Carlos Rodriguez today. It was very impressive (some doubted he could do it). He's not fading either, in fact he seems better now than he was on the Galibier. Add his ITT superiority on top of that & you get a really, really good GT rider.

But it's also 'bitter' because there are two riders above him. Not just slightly above but seriously in a little world of their own. The worst part for Evenepoel is they're only 25 & 27 years old.

Evenepoel is now in the same situation Roglič was in, i.e. he needs something to happen to both of these guys to win the Tour. Otherwise he's going to be riding around France finishing third for five years straight.

Feel ya. The other two are just crazy strong.

For me however, I didn't expect him to compete for the win, just not realistic. I have been happy to see him confident, consistent, and climbing like I thought he could in the furnace that is the Tour. He's answered a LOT of questions so far.

So many positives. Lots to grow from, physically and mentally. Really looking forward to seeing him on the podium this year. Fingers crossed. Big steps. Would love to see him pull out a win in the final TT, but that might not happen. That would be the icing on the cake.

 

[AmRacer]

Roglic is 9 years older than Pog, why on earth were people thinking he could still win the TDF? As we speak, there are people in the Roglic thread saying "he'd be 2nd now if he hadn't crashed out" lol.

Pog made a huge leap this year compared to last year. Vingegaard is supposedly (according to Visma) pushing his best watts, comparable to last year. It's Evenepoel's first TDF and his prep was hardly perfect, but for him it is apparently impossible to improve like Pog did, for him it's not possible to lose a bit more weight. In fact, in the race topic people are insinuating he should stop being a GC/GT rider, because he'll only finish 3rd. I guess whoever finishes off the podium should just go work in a factory or something.

Neither Jonas or Pogs prep was perfect either.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Neither Jonas or Pogs prep was perfect either.

What was not perfect about Pogs prep?

 

[AmRacer]

What was not perfect about Pogs prep?

Giro

 

[Rackham]

Feel ya. The other two are just crazy strong.

For me however, I didn't expect him to compete for the win, just not realistic. I have been happy to see him confident, consistent, and climbing like I thought he could in the furnace that is the Tour. He's answered a LOT of questions so far.

So many positives. Lots to grow from, physically and mentally. Really looking forward to seeing him on the podium this year. Fingers crossed. Big steps. Would love to see him pull out a win in the final TT, but that might not happen. That would be the icing on the cake.

I'm still a bit dazed by the performances we saw today, i.e. from both Pog & Vinge.

It was a step up, evidently. If we look back at roughly the same stages of the 2023 Tour after two weeks of racing, their respective performance today makes their climb up Joux Plane last year look amateurish by comparison. Back then Carlos Rodriguez was able to return after the two of them stared at each other a bit & mug them for the win. Today, he was 5 minutes down... but still good enough to finish 8th on the stage, which is wild.

So yes with Evenepoel there's a lot of positives (he really did destroy the 'human field' today) but also the reality there's a chasm which is currently unbridgeable, i.e. unless he also takes several steps forward in the coming years.

The problem with that scenario is Pog & Vinge are now on paper pretty much producing the greatest climbing performances in the history of the sport. I really don't know how many others can ever hope to invite themselves to that particular table.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Giro

So his prep was perfect according to the plan they made. Him winning the Giro at 85% might prove to have an impact in the 3rd week. I doubt his performances so far would have been much different.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Brilliant racing so far from Remco. He's paced himself really well. Let's not forget, this is his first TdF and he's smashing everyone except Pog and Vingo.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

Lots to build on for Remco. Vingegaard is seeing what Remco has dealt with in terms of having little help in a GC. Landa has been great, but Quickstep is still well behind Vlba and UAE.

Will be interesting to see what what his team looks like in 2026.

He'll race to conserve enegery for the Olympics where he'll be a medal favorite in the ITT and have a shot at getting a medal in the road race.

 

[Cookster15]

Really happy for Remco’s Tour so far - solid! Riding to his limits and is well on track to secure a TdF podium. Still the Alpes to come but hopefully he can get to the final TT fresh enough to do something.