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

Page 1208 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Sep 5, 2016
5,366
8,582
23,180
Was the bad positioning due to tactical mistake(s) or due to , still , a lack of accelerating ability in the climbs ? That is the real question .
He just got in a bad spot, on the last @3 k he looked to have power and speed equal to anyone in the break, he is wearing white and has to be extremely happy with everything about everything today, could say the same about all in the break.. Super human to stay out at 100% effort and still come up with 120% for sprint!! I still can't get over the ability to carry that speed for @500 meters..
 
Feb 18, 2015
13,828
9,830
28,180
he said he was far bc he was sure there would be a bunch sprint today
It's so funny to me that a team with all the cycling experience and resources one could dream of can come to that conclusion. I guess there was a reasonable likelihood of this stage ending in a bunch sprint but everyone knew that Pogacar & Co. would go over that final hill in the top 5 positions and if that's the case you can always have gc gaps.
 
Feb 9, 2013
7,254
8,775
23,180
Remco says he is currently at about the same shape he was during tour of last year. I'm hoping he says that with room to improve, and he ain't in shape 2 early. Normally given his rushed prep last year, he should still be better in a month and change, but you never know.

He looks and talks happy. Lets hope he gets through the rest of the season crash free, or only has light crashes without damage, and we'll see what the rest of the season has in store.

On a very unimportant note. I just can't warm up to soudal (& remco) racegear/jerseys this season. Lets hope they have better looking stuff next year. (assuming he still rides for them, which i think he will)
Yeah, Bob Roll was saying Remco weighs 3.5pounds less than he did last year at this time of year, so by the time the Tour rolls around he should weigh even less. (If that is the plan.) I thought he looked really good today! (And he also looked dead serious when he stood on the podium for the white jersey, it's like he was contemplating a very serious strategy or was just taking it all in in a serious manner.)
 
Apr 13, 2025
3,631
3,950
10,680
It's so funny to me that a team with all the cycling experience and resources one could dream of can come to that conclusion. I guess there was a reasonable likelihood of this stage ending in a bunch sprint but everyone knew that Pogacar & Co. would go over that final hill in the top 5 positions and if that's the case you can always have gc gaps.
They weren't the only ones, UAE too :tearsofjoy:
Only Pogacar was in the right place, his team...

Pm the other hand, Visma had up to four riders and attacked with three of them: Tulett, Jorgenson, and Vingegaard.
 
Jan 8, 2020
5,413
6,163
18,180
Just saw the race highlights. Remco ended up leading out Tadej and Jonas and sat up with 20 meters to go. I was surprised MvDP got beaten in that finish.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
Sep 12, 2022
8,748
10,109
17,180
It's so funny to me that a team with all the cycling experience and resources one could dream of can come to that conclusion. I guess there was a reasonable likelihood of this stage ending in a bunch sprint but everyone knew that Pogacar & Co. would go over that final hill in the top 5 positions and if that's the case you can always have gc gaps.
Even more so because Healy and Pogacar already drilled it the round before, and almost got away. You should be able to imagine that if they go harder than Healy, you might have a gap.
 
Jul 10, 2009
1,076
2,072
13,680
I'm a big fan, but it's just frustrating watching him having to yet again fire a bullet he could have used at the end due to being out of position; time and time again it seems with him. Certainly, that was a jaw-dropping bridge, he just rocketed across the gap...but if he is to beat the very best of the best he simply cannot afford that stuff; that was a winnable race for him today imho. The whole idea of not riding at the front because he thought it was going to be a sprint seems ludicrous to me; Pog and Ving were at the front and that's where he needed to be, end of story. In any event, on the plus side I'm inspired to see him in good form, much better than last year at this time; the coming week should be very interesting. Onward!
 
Jun 19, 2009
6,156
1,116
20,680
Mathieu cannot help Remco in the mountains, it's there he needs help.
Remco is Remco's problem in the mountains. He needs this year and a healthy next season to mature into a top step contender again. This stuff doesn't happen overnight and his injuries seem like Groundhog Day sometimes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AlpRaid
Sep 1, 2023
5,111
5,220
16,180
Remco is Remco's problem in the mountains. He needs this year and a healthy next season to mature into a top step contender again. This stuff doesn't happen overnight and his injuries seem like Groundhog Day sometimes.
So, Mathieu is of no use then for Remco.
 
Apr 30, 2011
47,354
30,007
28,180
But what did he do wrong?
Chose a wrong position, and chose to move up too late. Chose to spend his energy to bridge across and pull his rivals. Chose not to spend any in an attempt to take time.

His opponents were with him, not in the peloton. It didn't matter if they gained time at the finish to the bunch, only what they gained on each other. Pulling hard gave 6 and 10 seconds to them. It's not a one-day race, so he should be fine with getting caught by the peloton if the alternative is that he spends too much energy to keep them away. The harder he worked, the more the others could afford to save themselves (as they rightly didn't care about the gap).
 
May 16, 2015
557
658
11,780
I thought the way he crossed the gap to JV/Pog/MVDP was very impressive. I wouldn't be worried about the sprint.