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

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Alaphilippe should be better suited for this

If it were 2019, i'd agree. I also think he gets better from racing hard.

 

[will-10]

With Tour of Britain coming up, is this a race that Remco will try to win or will he ride in support of team mates. It is an unusual stage race for Remco to enter as there is no real GC stage that is similar to the GC stages we see it France, Italy and Spain.

Unfortunately it's a very poor route again, but I expect Remco to cook something up. Stage 2 is likely tougher than it appears on paper given national level races we've had on these circuits, so will likely be the GC day. The Sheffield day on stage 3 is hideous compared to the "what if" terrain on offer.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Look how incompetent bora can be at times, if I was remco I only do the transfer if I am absolutely certain that what bora can offer in performance is much better than quickstep

In Bora there are many cooks for the broth, bad tactics, weird DS decisions. In quickstep total tranquility, absolute leader status, full focus.

 

[Oldermanish]

Look how incompetent bora can be at times, if I was remco I only do the transfer if I am absolutely certain that what bora can offer in performance is much better than quickstep

In Bora there are many cooks for the broth, bad tactics, weird DS decisions. In quickstep total tranquility, absolute leader status, full focus.

Bora has ridden very well for him this Vuelta. The DS decisions went sideways when they relied on other teams to maintain a gap to O'Connor's break. Then the whole field pretty much bonked.
Quickstep has one leader, for sure. How will Landa finish and who will shepherd him there?

 

[Berniece]

If it were 2019, i'd agree. I also think he gets better from racing hard.

He was pretty good in San Sebastián though. How good does he need to be for Tour of Britain

 

[hayneplane]

Which teammate do you supposed has more chances than him? It's a peculiar stage race. First three stages are hilly with some opportunities for gaps and offensive riding, last three stages seem boring sprinter stages. Imho he should try and go for it in the first stages, he always gets better by racing hard. I have never seen him sit in the bunch as if it were training. I guess he could always do some work in the last three stages for Magnier.

If he is on decent form he should be able to win The Barnsley-Sheffield stage solo.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He was pretty good in San Sebastián though. How good does he need to be for Tour of Britain

You said Alaphilippe is more suited for this. I disagree. I didn't say Alaphilippe would be bad at it. But i see Pidcock for instance is also racing. I wouldn't automatically assume Alaphilippe beats him. The question is how far along is Evenepoel in his build up towards the Worlds.

 

[stekelegel]

Yates above Landa? Then we just look at the top perfomance ever, forget consistency. Tour 23 was great, for the rest as a GT racer Adam has been a failure more often than not. Include 1 week races and ok, Adam is ahead.
Carapaz over Landa? Actually I agree, depending on my mood a bit too. Carapaz of course hasn't had a GC result since 22 now, bad luck 23, Tour de Suisse crash and sickness before the Tour 24, but right now at the Vuelta Landa looks slightly stronger. I generally would rate Carapaz higher, but he has to show it with results again too.

There really is no fix top 8, after the top 4 it's a huge group, including Thomas (seems to have lost a step in 24 though) Mas, Hindley (pretty bad 24) Almeida etc etc. Right now Landa IMO can claim to be in these not so important top 8, as can Almeida, as can Mas (Vuelta consistency counts for something), people like Hindley and Carapaz might be better than him again in 25, but in 24? Landa. Carlos Rodriguez? IMO much more likely to win a GT than Landa, but again, 24 was a bit disappointing so far. Landa on the other hand has been very good in 23+24, with the Tour 23 the big deception. That might have been psychological after Mäder's death too. Give the man the respect he deserves. Hindley 22 was strong, but that was 2 seasons ago now, like everybody else he has to prove he still has it every year again. Failed in 24, Landa didn't. Landa ahead. So now I figured out the fix top 8: 1 Bilbao 2 Pogacar 3 Vingegaard 4 Roglic 5 Remco 6 Almeida 7 Mas 8 Carapaz. In case somebody disagrees with one of these, add Thomas, to be kicked in 25 of course.

As for Landa helping, there was nothing to help, if Remco wanted tempo Landa would have, but what for?As long as UAE or Visma work, not Landa's fault that he "didn't work" (Of course he still did, just not that visible)

Very true. Landa has had a long career with ups and downs. He was plagued by allergies for years, and never had the luck Kuss had or Carapaz (who was probably fourth best in the giro he won). His top 5 in the Tdf equal any podiums in Italy nd Spain. But unfortunately for him there never was 1 Gt were everything clicked. Many pundits and riders would rate Landa above Yates, almeida, hindley, but they might end up with the better results….

 

[Andre]

Remco for the overall victory

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yates above Landa? Then we just look at the top perfomance ever, forget consistency. Tour 23 was great, for the rest as a GT racer Adam has been a failure more often than not. Include 1 week races and ok, Adam is ahead.
Carapaz over Landa? Actually I agree, depending on my mood a bit too. Carapaz of course hasn't had a GC result since 22 now, bad luck 23, Tour de Suisse crash and sickness before the Tour 24, but right now at the Vuelta Landa looks slightly stronger. I generally would rate Carapaz higher, but he has to show it with results again too.

There really is no fix top 8, after the top 4 it's a huge group, including Thomas (seems to have lost a step in 24 though) Mas, Hindley (pretty bad 24) Almeida etc etc. Right now Landa IMO can claim to be in these not so important top 8, as can Almeida, as can Mas (Vuelta consistency counts for something), people like Hindley and Carapaz might be better than him again in 25, but in 24? Landa. Carlos Rodriguez? IMO much more likely to win a GT than Landa, but again, 24 was a bit disappointing so far. Landa on the other hand has been very good in 23+24, with the Tour 23 the big deception. That might have been psychological after Mäder's death too. Give the man the respect he deserves. Hindley 22 was strong, but that was 2 seasons ago now, like everybody else he has to prove he still has it every year again. Failed in 24, Landa didn't. Landa ahead. So now I figured out the fix top 8: 1 Bilbao 2 Pogacar 3 Vingegaard 4 Roglic 5 Remco 6 Almeida 7 Mas 8 Carapaz. In case somebody disagrees with one of these, add Thomas, to be kicked in 25 of course.

As for Landa helping, there was nothing to help, if Remco wanted tempo Landa would have, but what for?As long as UAE or Visma work, not Landa's fault that he "didn't work" (Of course he still did, just not that visible)

Thanks, this has to be the first post i read of yours that i agree with, almost entirely. I also said after the top 4, everything is close together, so i can see people might want to include Landa in the top 8, i just personally don't agree. Top-end, he doesn't belong there imho, but again, it's so close between him, Carapaz, Mas, etc, who really cares.

The point i was making regarding Landa not having worked in the TDF, was not not claim he was a lazy ass f'er who didn't do his job, but rather that he barely had to waste energy, meaning his GC place was actually not compromised by domestique duties. Hence Almeida, who did work a lot for Pog, showed to be the better man. But that Landa did not (have to) do a lot of work as a domestique, is simply stating the obvious imho.

The only contradictory here is, applauding him for his consistency, yet implying he never really got the opportunity to go for a win. A guy who had a long career, and has been consistent throughout that career, yet never got into a position to win a GT... maybe it's that he simply isn't that good (top-end) as you'd think? Hindley took his chance (Landa was present), Carapaz took his chance (Landa was present), Kuss took his chance (Landa was present), Bernal took his chance (Landa was present), Thomas took his chance (Landa was present)... so it's hard to argue Landa is a better rider than all these guys, or one of the top GC riders, yet he was never able to take these guys on when he had a golden opportunity when Froome, Pogacar, Roglic... weren't there.

 

[Valv.Piti]

So Tour of Britain looks nice for the three first stages (a bit hilly) and then you expect the stages to be harder, but no, ends the race with 3 pure sprint stages.

 

[Berniece]

You said Alaphilippe is more suited for this. I disagree. I didn't say Alaphilippe would be bad at it. But i see Pidcock for instance is also racing. I wouldn't automatically assume Alaphilippe beats him. The question is how far along is Evenepoel in his build up towards the Worlds.

Because Alaphilippe has a better sprint and acceleration than Evenepoel. I can see Remco only win if he goes from far out and no one is on his wheel. But I deem the chances for Alaphilippe to just win stage 3, higher

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Because Alaphilippe has a better sprint and acceleration than Evenepoel.

Back in 2019, yes. Now, i highly doubt it. Neither is the same rider they once were.

 

[Berniece]

Back in 2019, yes. Now, i highly doubt it. Neither is the same rider they once were.

That's true, maybe I overestimate Alaphilippe too much

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

That's true, maybe I overestimate Alaphilippe too much

A bit of both probably. We've seen Evenepoel beat Schachmann, Roglic, Bilbao... who are all punchy riders, and he shown he can create a gap on short hills as well. He dropped Hirschi and Del Toro just in the first race of the season, on a short climb and has won quite a few races after teammates setting a hard pace, and him attacking in the final hundred meters of a short climb to extend his lead on the flat.

And unfortunately, Alaphilippe isn't who he used to be, even if his form seems to have improved lately. But if Evenepoel doesn't feel he's good enough, clearly they should play Alaphilippe's card.

 

[Samamba]

Wdym Alaphilippe or Evenepoel? Magnier leader, wtf is this parcours.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Pretty lacklustre route tbh, one of the worst GB editions I have ever seen. But if Remco is solid, doesn't even have to be great, he'll win the race on Lythe Bank.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Remco should do nothing, make it six bunch sprints and tell the organisers to design a better route.

 

[houtdffan]

There are no stages where he can realisticly do anything.

Should have done the canadian wt races instead

 

[AmRacer]

There are no stages where he can realisticly do anything.

Should have done the canadian wt races instead

But Tadej Merckx is there in Canada

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He's been sick. Still a lot of work towards the WCC.

Remco Evenepoel "heeft nog werk" aan zijn WK-vorm in Groot-Brittannië: "Ik ben even goed ziek geweest" | sporza

Daags voor zijn terugkeer in koers in de Ronde van Groot-Brittannië stond dubbel olympisch kampioen Remco Evenepoel de pers uitgebreid te woord. Over zijn weken met ontspanning, maar ook met ziekte na de Spelen, zijn planning voor de rest van het seizoen en ook over transfers: hij ging geen...

sporza.be

 

[Berniece]

He's been sick. Still a lot of work towards the WCC.

Remco Evenepoel "heeft nog werk" aan zijn WK-vorm in Groot-Brittannië: "Ik ben even goed ziek geweest" | sporza

Daags voor zijn terugkeer in koers in de Ronde van Groot-Brittannië stond dubbel olympisch kampioen Remco Evenepoel de pers uitgebreid te woord. Over zijn weken met ontspanning, maar ook met ziekte na de Spelen, zijn planning voor de rest van het seizoen en ook over transfers: hij ging geen...

sporza.be

Hmm, expect more from him at Lombardia then

 

[Wvv]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Golden helmet incoming.

 

[Berniece]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Golden helmet incoming.

Post already removed?

 

[Berniece]

Images from his new outfit, helmet, glasses and bike. I like the jersey, it's very subtle. Not really a fan of the bike, or helmet. Way too glossy for my taste.

More pictures

Spoiler