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

[Didinho]

It’s not about cornering at very low speed in the rain. About cornering at high speed in downhills. Totally different.

 

[Netserk]

I think he is the first rider to win all of the above:
- a GT
- a monument
- WC gold medal
- Olympic gold medal

Yeah, I think so too. Kuiper, Indurain, Ullrich, Vino and Rogla are all somewhat close.

 

[Anderis]

I think he is the first rider to win all of the above:
- a GT
- a monument
- WC gold medal
- Olympic gold medal

All of the below I should have said.

 

[tobydawq]

Yeah, I think so too. Kuiper, Indurain, Ullrich, Vino and Rogla are all somewhat close.

At some point they called Tour de Suisse the 4th Grand Tour so by that token, Cancellara was close too

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Only Hour record is missing.

With his CdA and monster endurance engine, he would completely demolish Ganna's record. If he really went for it, it could be a distance to stand for a long time.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoel and Van Aert.

 

[Berflamand]

Time Trials? Yeah, completed it mate!

Brilliant ride Ket! I expected a medal but not the gold one, this is absolutely great!

Now let's go for a double gold in the road race. Then only the European RR (where he already got second) will be left to have won every possible title I think.

 

[Berflamand]

Evenepoel and Van Aert.

The King of Belgium and a fan in a grey suit.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Ganna set that after he got like 7th in the ITT at the Worlds in Australia. I'm confident Ganna himself could smash it too, I just don't think it's that fast at the moment.

I wish they'd both try, I'm curious how much the lack of track experience would cost Evenepoel or if it wouldn't matter that much.

I meant to say even if Ganna tried again, it wouldn't really matter. I honestly don't think it would be close if both went in fully prepared and in shape. Evenepoel has the better CdA, more relative watts, cornering is not an issue and he is a superior endurance athlete to top it all off.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

As others, I definitely would like Remco to go for an hour record. He would have a good chance of beating it but I definitely don't think there's an abyss between him and Ganna in 50+ km efforts.

 

[Valv.Piti]

For fantasy purposes, I'd like to throw this Evenepoel in the Cap d' Couverte TT in 2003 and see how he would stack up against Ullrich and Armstrong on a hot as *** day, undulating and long TT course in the middle of a GT

 

[kingjr]

Evenepoels most dominant ITTs have famously been in the 20-35 km range. They had 55 minute one last year and the gap was like 12 seconds.

Ganna once said that he prefers both prologue-type and long ITTs over medium distance.

 

[chickenlips]

get to altitude, NOW!!!!

NO aliens in the road race. Not going to be as meaningful as the worlds when Pog is present.

Go flex at the Vuelta like Pog did at the giro, then go sweep the worlds and steal the velo d'oro from Pog

FFS

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoels most dominant ITTs have famously been in the 20-35 km range. They had 55 minute one last year and the gap was like 12 seconds.

This is like how you kept repeating for 2 or 3 years, that Evenepoel couldn't ride away from the competition or expand his lead uphill, right?

They also had a 65 minute TT back in 2019 and Evenepoel was 46s faster. How many long solos has Ganna completed successfully, if you think Ganna is even remotely close as an endurance athlete? A world hour record is 1 hour continuously putting force on the pedals, there is no room to let the legs rest in a descend, or in a technical section or ahead of a corner. It's non-stop pedalling and much harder than a regular long TT for exactly that reason. The biggest advantage Ganna has on Evenepoel, is that he is less clumsy in technical sections, and that advantage goes up in smoke here.

There simply are hardly any long TT's on the calendar left to make such claims as that they wouldn't suit Evenepoel. Other than the occasional WCC, only Chrono des Nations is left, which is held at the end of the season, and is not a goal for anybody. If you want to use those to make your case, chances are you'll end up sorely disappointed. That would be a bit like using San Sebastian to prove Pogacar doesn't do well in hilly classics.

Look at their H2H, and keep in mind what happened in 2020 with Evenepoel struggling during his comeback throughout 2021. It's the only year Ganna managed to beat Evenepoel consistently.

I think there's also this weird conflation of saying doing well in monuments equates to being greatly favored in hour long ITTs. They're actually about different physiological traits and I'd argue that some of the best monument style racers that also had good ITTs tended to actually do better in shorter TTs, while there's also a number of hyperspecialist long ITTers that never did anything in monuments.

This argument goes out the window with Evenepoel, his traits are the base for both his long range solos as well as his TT dominance.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Father, son and uncle:

 

[Bolder]

Father, son and uncle:

Skinny Remco ftw.

 

[Pantani_lives]

He's won six of the eight possible titles now. Only the Olympic RR and the European RR are still missing. I don't think anyone else scores higher than four (Olano has four). Of course this wasn't possible in the past, but it's an achievement that won't soon be equaled.

 

[Ulle97]

Father, son and uncle:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

[Andre]

When Remco gets the gold August 3rd he will be the only cyclist with two golds in the two most important Olympic cycling events. If he wins the worlds and some Italian classic can he still get velo d'or?

 

[stekelegel]

not even with an all Belgian jury voting, Pogacar tour was the best I have ever seen in 40 years watching, and if he wins the worlds there is a serious case to be made this is the most dominant cycling season in history. I feel he got lucky today with the weather, took more out of Ganna and Tarling.

 

[houtdffan]

When Remco gets the gold August 3rd he will be the only cyclist with two golds in the two most important Olympic cycling events. If he wins the worlds and some Italian classic can he still get velo d'or?

he needs the Vuelta to have a chance

 

[Sciatic]

Father, son and uncle:

Wow, and that’s with Remco on the top step as well 🙃

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I feel he got lucky today with the weather, took more out of Ganna and Tarling.

Wow. There were barely 5 corners on the entire course, lol. I mean, he isn't the best at cornering, but he's not thát bad. One could say they were lucky they got a chance to beat him less than a week after the TDF, no?

Either way, ridiculous take.

 

[gregrowlerson]

When Remco gets the gold August 3rd he will be the only cyclist with two golds in the two most important Olympic cycling events. If he wins the worlds and some Italian classic can he still get velo d'or?

No. Only way he would win is recency bias, and I'm a Remco fan.

Hope we get to see him take on Pogacar in worlds and Lombardia without crashes getting in the way.

 

[houtdffan]

No. Only way he would win is recency bias, and I'm a Remco fan.

Hope we get to see him take on Pogacar in worlds and Lombardia without crashes getting in the way.

What about olympic sweep, vuelta, then worlds sweep?