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

[Extinction]

Remco got his arse kikked today.

 

[Berniece]

lol not today

Hindsight is 2020

 

[stekelegel]

Whatever the outcome today, once again it is total chaos without communication. The current generation lack any tactical awareness when there is no sporting director yelling in their ears what to do. Evenepoel has benefitted from this in worlds and Olympics, now it’s Pog. Not taking away anything from their victories, but racing once a year with different rules is weird.

 

[stekelegel]

Hindsight is 2020

I am just kicking myself for letting people on this forum making me believe it would be close. Remco is a good rider, Pog one of the greatest ever

 

[Berflamand]

I'm probably going to be ridiculed by the Pog fanclub (and I would actually understand it) but I don't think this was Remco at his best and I think if Remco was at his best it would have been a suicide attack by Pog and Remco would have caught him eventually.

I don't mean to say Remco at his best would have beaten Pog if it was a straight up duel in the last 50k but I do think that Pog attacking at 100km would have made sure Remco could catch him.

Also Team Belgium being a bit (or a lot) stronger would have been nice.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

He looked absolutely dead in the final lap, making me think I was correct in assuming his base level is not high enough so shortly after Tour/OG decompression to compete here. Still in all, this was a brain dead race from his part. Completely out of position when the fireworks started with Asgreen and Kelderman. He only has himself to blame for that.

Though his team didn't help much either (hello, Wellens). Still, they never should have been brought into that position.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoel clearly didn't have his OG legs. Pogacar wins by 35s ahead of classics Behemoth Ben O'Connor.

 

[Snake]

My doubts after TT where he didn't gain anything on the climb section on ganna confirmed, he will be a no factor in the upcoming italian races.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

My doubts after TT where he didn't gain anything on the climb section on ganna confirmed, he will be a no factor in the upcoming italian races.

My assessment prior to GB was that he'll be better in Italy than he would be here. After Paris he had to start from virtually 0 again. A few weeks to a month is not enough time to build top end form again, especially not in a 6 to 7 hour race. Lombardia might hit just right, otoh.

It's the typical Olympic year blues.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Dissapointed in the belgium team. I was expecting a Team Time Trial alongside the Dutch after Pogacar went. I know it was 180 km in, but i felt like they should have been able to ride as a team for longer, bringing the gap down more.

That said, the belgian squad at least tried. Once they were gone the rest just started solo riding after Pogacar. Which is mind-boggling. Had they worked together the peloton would have had a small chance. Now they had none. If 15 riders ride as a team after Pogacar this could have ended differently. In their bullheaded thinking of not wanting to give up their own chance, they basically were giving up their own chance...

As for Evenepoel, he rode a solid race, finishing 5th but could never take up arms against Pogacar in this race. I genuinely hope today's effort will help his form. Give him a slight boost. Whilst Pogacar instead of going into a ruse from winning the WC gets a slight dip from decompression. Otherwise the upcoming italian races won't be exciting to watch. Here's hoping Evenepoel can compete (&win) in Lombardia. But the odds are def. against him after today.

 

[Didinho]

That 37kg gold bike weighing him down.

Not the best day today, as everyone expected him to be 2nd strongest on this lap. And definitely not the smartest, that only happens when he doesn’t have the legs.

Nothing to do against Pogi here.

 

[Extinction]

Remco and everyone got their arse kicked today, from 100 km out, not even Merckx... I've never seen anything like this.

 

[Extinction]

It must be said now that Tadej is unreachable. 100 km out is from another planet.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm probably going to be ridiculed by the Pog fanclub (and I would actually understand it) but I don't think this was Remco at his best and I think if Remco was at his best it would have been a suicide attack by Pog and Remco would have caught him eventually.

I don't mean to say Remco at his best would have beaten Pog if it was a straight up duel in the last 50k but I do think that Pog attacking at 100km would have made sure Remco could catch him.

Also Team Belgium being a bit (or a lot) stronger would have been nice.

He clearly wasn't at his best.

Looked to me like he gained too much weight after the Olympics cause he gets worse the more it goes uphill

 

[mlescanojr]

He definitely might. There’s no reason to think Pogacar is better than Evenepoel in such long races

Yes, he is. And so much better.

 

[mlescanojr]

Remco also competes in the Alien Division

Nope, definitely not.

 

[mlescanojr]

Remco got his arse kikked today.

And it was glorious to watch he losing his demeanor haha

 

[mlescanojr]

I'm probably going to be ridiculed by the Pog fanclub (and I would actually understand it) but I don't think this was Remco at his best and I think if Remco was at his best it would have been a suicide attack by Pog and Remco would have caught him eventually.

I don't mean to say Remco at his best would have beaten Pog if it was a straight up duel in the last 50k but I do think that Pog attacking at 100km would have made sure Remco could catch him.

Also Team Belgium being a bit (or a lot) stronger would have been nice.

You can think whatever you want, it's your opinion.

But the fact is: Pogi destroyed Remco's ass today. 100k masterclass, what a spectacle.

 

[Netserk]

It's a 1.9k climb at 6.2% on a 27km loop. How much time can he take on the climb (assuming Evenepoel is in peak shape), that it would be "done" for someone like Evenepoel not able to close it on the remainder of the loop? EDIT: The entire loop has about 3km of climbing, averaging ~6.5%. If Pogacar is certain to get a gap at those climbs, he might be better off waiting for the last lap, since it gives his opponents less time to orchestrate a chase. He doesn't need a long solo in a 250+k race, it only plays into the hands of someone like Evenepoel imho. Again, assuming both are at peak form.

So today was the perfect scenario for Evenepoel?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

It’s no shame to be crushed by Pogacar.

 

[Red Rick]

So today was the perfect scenario for Evenepoel?

Pogacar attacking at 100km to go actually really was the best case scenario.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Remco is also a hors categorie rider, so you can't put it past him. I look forward to an epic battle.

Cat 2

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Pogacar attacking at 100km to go actually really was the best case scenario.

I think Pogačar doing a half-assed attack to open the finale would have been better, but that was Evenepoel‘s thing today. Then Remco could have tried to get Pogačar and Van der Poel to look at each other.

 

[Netserk]

Pogacar attacking at 100km to go actually really was the best case scenario.

Too bad that Evenepoel didn't realise that he could have bridged across to Pogi on the same lap. Weird that he didn't make it a solo vs. solo, as he is so much better than Pogi in that.

 

[Red Rick]

Too bad that Evenepoel didn't realise that he could have bridged across to Pogi on the same lap. Weird that he didn't make it a solo vs. solo, as he is so much better than Pogi in that.

I think we've pretty confidently established Evenepoel wasn't on his best day today.