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

[Berniece]

In the latest news article i saw pop up, it said remco has more or less decided on no giro this year.
So further confirmation of what we already suspected. It also claims Remco saying being top in the TdF is all that matters. And the rest of the season (prior to that) is extra.

I'm sure that for some people this is good news. Me personally, I think putting all your eggs in one basket isn't the best thing to do. It just takes one crash. Look at WVA. WVA could have easily won himself a few belgian Cyclocross chips. Easily won the WC Cyclocross that Pidcock won. Could have won a couple of Spring road races if he decided to participate. I think he skipped a Belgian TT championship as well in which Remco, and other main rivals were also not active, ... . Instead he has been putting all of his eggs on Flanders and Roubaix past 2 years, and nothing to show for it.

Is there more to his season besides that? I mean, if they feel the Giro is too early to be good at the TDF, then what really changes? Spring season is over anyway. So next up is Giro, Dauphine, NC, TDF, Vuelta, WC, Lombardia.

He's deciding to be at his best at TDF and probably goes for a second peak at WC/Lombardia, if that's feasible. Not sure why you feel this is putting all his eggs in a single basket. If he would do the Giro, and not able to peak there properly, he finishes behind Roglic. Then due to that he's also not able to properly peak for TDF, and also fails there. He wants to peak for TDF, and see that if he can reduce the gap with Pogacar/Vingegaard if he has a proper preparation.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Is there more to his season besides that? I mean, if they feel the Giro is too early to be good at the TDF, then what really changes? Spring season is over anyway. So next up is Giro, Dauphine, NC, TDF, Vuelta, WC, Lombardia.

He's deciding to be at his best at TDF and probably goes for a second peak at WC/Lombardia, if that's feasible. Not sure why you feel this is putting all his eggs in a single basket. If he would do the Giro, and not able to peak there properly, he finishes behind Roglic. Then due to that he's also not able to properly peak for TDF, and also fails there. He wants to peak for TDF, and see that if he can reduce the gap with Pogacar/Vingegaard if he has a proper preparation.

Maybe cause I remember the Armstrong/Ullrich/Basso/Contador era too much. So many of these top riders peaking only 1 a season for the TdF.

 

[Berniece]

Maybe cause I remember the Armstrong/Ullrich/Basso/Contador era too much. So many of these top riders peaking only 1 a season for the TdF.

That’s true, but that’s a different era. I still expect Evenepoel to target more besides TDF. His first big target of the year was actually Paris-Nice before the crash

 

[houtdffan]

Remco's doing something on Strava

https://twitter.com/x/status/1876049722554921166

View: https://x.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1876049722554921166

 

[Berniece]

Remco's doing something on Strava

https://twitter.com/x/status/1876049722554921166

View: https://x.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1876049722554921166

He said he was going to the doctor on the 6th, maybe they moved that up and he’s already back to training. Starting with running.

 

[AmRacer]

He said he was going to the doctor on the 6th, maybe they moved that up and he’s already back to training. Starting with running.

Walking pace.

 

[Berniece]

Walking pace.

Oh lol, missed that. Was hoping he was actually training already

 

[houtdffan]

Oh lol, missed that. Was hoping he was actually training already

more like a race walk pace at ~7 kmh

 

[Berniece]

Evenepoel hopes to be back for the Ardennes classics, after that altitude camp, dauphine, NC and TDF. Proper interviews are expected later in the day, this was a video for the team.

Remco Evenepoel spreekt ploegmaats toe net voor ziekenhuiscontrole: "Hoop midden april te hervatten" | sporza

Eén grote afwezige op de presentatie van Soudal-Quick Step: Remco Evenepoel. Al was de kopman van de Belgische formatie er via digitale weg toch een beetje bij. Net voor hij op controle ging in het ziekenhuis sprak de olympische kampioen zijn ploegmaats toe. "Ik zal me enkel focussen op de...

sporza.be

 

[houtdffan]

Remco back on the rollers

 

[AmRacer]

So, Remco vs Tadej this spring and summer.

 

[Andre]

Not sure if is done on this forum, but happy new year everyone

No, we don't do Happy Year here or merry Christmas or Saint Valentine's day. It's Evenepoel everything. We celebrate victories by Remco only...sometimes we stray over to De Lie or Van Eetvelt or Van Aert, but we always come back home here. This is a tough group. Our skin becomes like leather. We do miss "Logic is your Friend", we are not inhuman. But it's....Go Remco Go"
"estoy bromeando" Happy new year.

 

[Berniece]

So, Remco vs Tadej this spring and summer.

I don’t expect much this spring, but this summer on the other hand hopefully there is some form of battle until Pogi wins

 

[Ripper]

Does anyone else feel that either boyo is not being entirely forthright with what training he's currently able to do, or he and his trainer are so old school about training that he is truly going to be many steps behind by the time spring arrives?

 

[Wvv]

People keep underestimating or are really oblivious of how severely he is injured. And don't take into account how long he will have been off the bike too. His lungs need time to recover, or the damage can be permanent, and he needs to come back after ten weeks without any specific training.

 

[AmRacer]

People keep underestimating or are really oblivious of how severely he is injured. And don't take into account how long he will have been off the bike too. His lungs need time to recover, or the damage can be permanent, and he needs to come back after ten weeks without any specific training.

Was it a more severe crash than last spring crash?

 

[KoopaCycling]

Was it a more severe crash than last spring crash?

Honestly it looked more severe. Spring crash he managed to jump over the ditch and ride for a few meters before crashing on his shoulder and breaking his collarbone. This time i think he crashed more or less fullspeed on a downhill into a car door. His medical bulletin also looked a great deal more severe. He also said a nerve in his shoulder was damaged and that it still hurt quite a bit every morning.

 

[Berniece]

Does anyone else feel that either boyo is not being entirely forthright with what training he's currently able to do, or he and his trainer are so old school about training that he is truly going to be many steps behind by the time spring arrives?

I think they are just extremely cautious after what happened in 2021. As well as the injury being very severe. They don’t want to take any chance of going too fast, since his only really important goal is the TDF.

So all of that combined results in this behaviour.

 

[Unchained]

I really don't know what to make of team introduction video.. Remco does a remote video cameo, looking like he made the video from the seat of a car!!

 

[veganrob]

I really don't know what to make of team introduction video.. Remco does a remote video cameo, looking like he made the video from the seat of a car!!

That's progress if he can drive himself to the ice cream store.

 

[stonerider]

Was it a more severe crash than last spring crash?

Yes it was more severe. The ligaments in his shoulder will not heal and the surgery to repair will not make it as good as it was before. Anyone who has had an AC shoulder separation will know this. Bones can heal, but torn ligaments cannot.

 

[stonerider]

What's with all these young guys going full steam around traffic and ramming into cars? Thinking of Egan Bernal, Tom Pidcock a couple years ago, and now Remco. There is a time to go full steam and a time to be cautious. Maybe young guys just don't have a lot of wisdom.

 

[KoopaCycling]

What's with all these young guys going full steam around traffic and ramming into cars? Thinking of Egan Bernal, Tom Pidcock a couple years ago, and now Remco. There is a time to go full steam and a time to be cautious. Maybe young guys just don't have a lot of wisdom.

In his defense, it looked a pretty run of the mill relatively empty (midday) belgian town center. The traffic was probably almost-non existant. It's just that it's a town center. So stuff like a car door opening and closing more likely to happen there than elsewhere.

And whilst I definitely don't want to put the blame on Remco; As just random bad stuff can just happen to anyone. And clearly that postal worker failed to check for incoming traffic before opening her door. But, odds are there was a speed limit of 30 km/h in that town center. Not sure exactly. But that tends to be the case in most town centers in Belgium these days. And odds are Remco was going faster than that. I daresay that even if colliding was unavoidable and would have hurt a lot regardless. Colliding at 30 km/h or at +50 km/h is different, as well as the pain and damage resulting from the crash. Again, I ain't blaming Remco. Pretty sure most (Pro )cyclists don't bother to abide by the speed limits when training/riding.

I mean close to where I live there is bike highway which has a speed limit of 30 km/h. Most people on there tend to go faster. Either with their electric bikes or racing bikes. Hell, even a slow turtle like myself whom enjoys riding their bike at a leisurely pace will probably go over that limit with a bit of helpful wind.

I guess i'm just agreeing with you in the end that maybe a little bit of prudence around certain traffic, certain places is better than taking any risks. Especially since even carefully riding your bike can be dangerous enough around certain cars. Not knocking all car drivers, just a certain group. Just as I would knock not all cyclists for certain behaviour. Just a certain group of cyclists who think they own the road and think it's okay to drive/ride agressively around other people.

 

[Wvv]

Remco is for the 4th time Belgium's Male Sports Athlete of the Year. So far the good news.

He confirmed that there is an extra problem with his injuries now. His shoulder is quite inactive because a nerve seems really damaged, so the recovery will take even more time than anticipated. Edit: even Ardennes classics are uncertain at this point.

Sigh. Could lose another year in his development this way. If he fully recovers, that is.

 

[Berniece]

Remco is for the 4th time Belgium's Male Sports Athlete of the Year. So far the good news.

He confirmed that there is an extra problem with his injuries now. His shoulder is quite inactive because a nerve seems really damaged, so the recovery will take even more time than anticipated. Edit: even Ardennes classics are uncertain at this point.

Sigh. Could lose another year in his development this way. If he fully recovers, that is.

For those interested, these are his direct quotes (translated) from during that interview.

I started more intensive physiotherapy 2 days ago. Normally I would have trained on the rollers this weekend, but I'm aiming for tomorrow (Monday, ed.).

Because there is bad news: a nerve has been hit. The outer muscles - I'm not a physiotherapist - are a bit inactive. We have to work very hard to stimulate those muscles and let them live. So it will take a bit longer than hoped.

We don't know yet if the spring season is in danger. We are still assuming the Brabantse Pijl as the starting date, but we can always move it up if necessary. Fortunately, the Tour is still a long way off. That will definitely go ahead, but I have to see in what condition I can start the Ardennes.

It's a bit of a downer. Normally there was the operation and I could resume 5 weeks later. Now we're doing that too, but more slowly. So we have to keep an eye on that.