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

[Bolder]

giro gives him a month or two more time to recover base form, however

His Giro record is not great, however. I'd be concerned that either he'll crash or try to stay high up on GC and fry himself. Better to give him a lower-pressure setting.

(that said, I'd love to see him to Giro-Tour, but I don't think it would be ideal this year. Plenty of smaller stage races to putter around in before the Dauphine/Suisse ==> Tour)

 

[Berniece]

His Giro record is not great, however.

Well he rode it 2 times. Once it's mostly his own fault together with the team to get him so lean so quickly. Second time he got COVID, hardly anyone's fault. Based on how that second Giro enfolded, he would've won it easily.

 

[Berniece]

Remco is on a national radio station to support a good cause. He gave a bit more insights on his trajectory for the following months.

1. Doing nothing for 4 weeks
2. January 6th there's a scan planned to see if everything is growing together properly
3. If all is well, they can start creating a schedule with the physiotherapist and start training indoor
4. Hopes to be riding outside again in the beginning of February
5. Probably won't be able to ride the Giro. It will come too early since he won't be able to ride any race until halfway in April.

Quotes during the interview

• He has 2 favourite victories: His first LBL, since that was his first really big victory, and his Olympic Gold medal in the road race. If he had to chose between the two it would be the Olympics, since it was a very big cherry on top of the amazing July cake.

 

[Tymek]

Probably won't be able to ride the Giro. It will come too early since he won't be able to ride any race until halfway in April.

Are you kidding me? Nooo 😞

 

[Berniece]

Are you kidding me? Nooo 😞

No joke, so I guess he might ride some ardennes classics, but don't expect much of it, and then hopefully Romandie. To follow it up with a big focus on TDF.

 

[Tymek]

No joke, so I guess he might ride some ardennes classics, but don't expect much of it, and then hopefully Romandie. To follow it up with a big focus on TDF.

Why does it feel like everytime he reaches next level he is crashing?
So sad for him. Last Tour gave hope that he might become new serious contender in Tour.

 

[Netserk]

Remco is on a national radio station to support a good cause. He gave a bit more insights on his trajectory for the following months.

1. Doing nothing for 4 weeks
2. January 6th there's a scan planned to see if everything is growing together properly
3. If all is well, they can start creating a schedule with the physiotherapist and start training indoor
4. Hopes to be riding outside again in the beginning of February
5. Probably won't be able to ride the Giro. It will come too early since he won't be able to ride any race until halfway in April.

Quotes during the interview

• He has 2 favourite victories: His first LBL, since that was his first really big victory, and his Olympic Gold medal in the road race. If he had to chose between the two it would be the Olympics, since it was a very big cherry on top of the amazing July cake.

That's a quite slower timeline than I had expected. Getting in a stage race before the Ardennes will hopefully be possible.

 

[houtdffan]

That's true, maybe that's actually the smarter option. He's able to ride the bike again at the end of January. He first needs to start building up the base he missed, that's two months, so it's already the end of March now. If he needs some proper altitude training too he should do it then, because I'm not sure you can combine building a base with altitude training. He can still make Ardennes classics then, but those would be 3 tough WT races as his first, and then to the Giro.

he thinks mid april before he races again

says it will be hard to make the giro, but that is what he most certainly needs now. Just dont blow an engine if he loses pace due to bad positioning, like he did in 2021.

2021 should have been giro to get in shape followed by TDF, not him trying everything to compete, only to be exposed as someone who couldn't steer a bike at the time. Do that proper plan this year

 

[Wvv]

Athletes of this level often return faster than expected. So I won't be surprised if he could attend a race like Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice. But he won't reach his top level until the summer, that seems obvious. Sad really.

 

[Wvv]

In a news flash on national television Remco said to aim for Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

 

[KZD]

I am a bit surprised that Remco will need so much time out of the bike. He has no broken bones on his lower body or organ damage so recovery should be faster. However, if he can't prepare in time for the Giro, it does makes sense to ride the Ardennes races though I still believe he should be able to ride a stage race like Basque Country before them.

Not this again...

He was third in the Tour so he did indeed show that he is a contender for that race even though Pogacar and Vingegaard are obviously ahead of him.

 

[Tymek]

Not this again

I mean not now against Pog and Jonas. Just one day in future, when they retire, but you can’t achieve it with few serious crashes per year.

Now he is contender for third place in his own league with no one else besides him (I think Roglič is to old rn) so it’s nice beginning.

 

[Wvv]

I am a bit surprised that Remco will need so much time out of the bike. He has no broken bones on his lower body or organ damage so recovery should be faster.

His lung got bruised.
Starting too soon could cause permanent damage.

 

[Berniece]

That's a quite slower timeline than I had expected. Getting in a stage race before the Ardennes will hopefully be possible.

Which one though. If everything goes a bit smoother than expected he might be able to do Basque, but not sure there's anything remotely interesting for him after that and before AGR.

 

[SHAD0W93]

His lung got bruised.
Starting too soon could cause permanent damage.

Didn’t slow down Vingegaard on top of a collapsed lung and broken ribs.

 

[Berniece]

I am a bit surprised that Remco will need so much time out of the bike. He has no broken bones on his lower body or organ damage so recovery should be faster. However, if he can't prepare in time for the Giro, it does makes sense to ride the Ardennes races though I still believe he should be able to ride a stage race like Basque Country before them.

Might be a worse case scenario, which he falls back on so it can only be better

 

[KoopaCycling]

By all reports, it will be a tough time coming back. Not expecting a comeback like last year. More of a slow burn i think. an accelerated version of 2021.

 

[Berniece]

Not this again...

As people already said here, it’s also confirmed by Jim van den Berg. Crashes Evenepoel endured have a huge impact on his overall growth as a rider. He lost 1.5-2 years purely due to this, on top of that he’s a year younger than Pogacar. So he’s basically running 3 years behind. It’s not so weird to assume Evenepoel in 3 years would be as good as Pogacar in 2024.

"Een half jaar of zelfs een volledig seizoen": Geen goed nieuws voor Remco Evenepoel na ongeval

Wat brengt 2025 in het wielrennen? Remco Evenepoel en Wout van Aert hebben volgens wielercoach Jim van der Berg minder kansen dan Mathieu van der Poel om progressie te boeken.

www.wielerkrant.be

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

As people already said here, it’s also confirmed by Jim van den Berg. Crashes Evenepoel endured have a huge impact on his overall growth as a rider. He lost 1.5-2 years purely due to this, on top of that he’s a year younger than Pogacar. So he’s basically running 3 years behind. It’s not so weird to assume Evenepoel in 3 years would be as good as Pogacar in 2024.

"Een half jaar of zelfs een volledig seizoen": Geen goed nieuws voor Remco Evenepoel na ongeval

Wat brengt 2025 in het wielrennen? Remco Evenepoel en Wout van Aert hebben volgens wielercoach Jim van der Berg minder kansen dan Mathieu van der Poel om progressie te boeken.

www.wielerkrant.be

Assuming anyone will be as good as the rider who just produced the best season of all time and the best climbing performances of all time is…weird. Assuming he can improve is not, though.

 

[Berniece]

Assuming anyone will be as good as the rider who just produced the best season of so time and the best climbing performances of all time is…weird. Assuming he can improve is not, though.

That’s true, but just because you are as good doesn’t mean your results will be.

 

[Extinction]

Who knows if Don Patrick's exit is connected to a loss of faith in Remco ever being able to win the Tour?

 

[rghysens]

Who knows if Don Patrick's exit is connected to a loss of faith in Remco ever being able to win the Tour?

It´s mainly connected to having had a nice dinner with Zdenek Bakala a few weeks or months ago.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Most recent interview further making it clear Giro probably won't be for this year. So far he is mostly just getting massages keeping his muscles flexible. He'll be undergoing an evaluation to see if he can start working out on rollers on januari 9th. With him hopeful he can start riding outdoors at the end of the first week in february.

I think him and his team have decided on a return to competition during the latter part of April.
I doubt he'll have enough base for a giro ride, I'm not even sure he'll be competitive in april. hopefully he will be. But i think we should not hope for a truly in form evenepoel before the start of summer.

 

[houtdffan]

Most recent interview further making it clear Giro probably won't be for this year. So far he is mostly just getting massages keeping his muscles flexible. He'll be undergoing an evaluation to see if he can start working out on rollers on januari 9th. With him hopeful he can start riding outdoors at the end of the first week in february.

I think him and his team have decided on a return to competition during the latter part of April.
I doubt he'll have enough base for a giro ride, I'm not even sure he'll be competitive in april. hopefully he will be. But i think we should not hope for a truly in form evenepoel before the start of summer.

where is he going to get his race days?

This could be like an Ullrich giro, merely to get into shape, not to compete

 

[KoopaCycling]

Acccording to the interview he'll be doing the Brabantse pijl, amstel gold, waalse pijl and LBL.

It's not mentioned but i'm thinking he'll then do a conservative approach. Take a training break, come back for dauphine, then training break to further finetune, then TdF. With the possible addition of belgian national championships. But those are just my thoughts on the matter;