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

[AlpRaid]

"I don't think it's about a one-minute effort, because we're already going hard in the phase before that. You're talking about three or five minutes, and I'll have to work on that in the winter," he admits. "I need to get accustomed to it and improve at it. We did work on it in the summer, but there simply wasn't enough time to improve significantly." ...from Remco

he is still improving...

yup, but in the same article he says increasing watts/kg at this point is complicated. in fact, he has previously said that his ceiling has hardly changed since 2022 Vuelta.

maybe he is suggesting potentially increasing the length of time at a certain watts/kg, IDK.

thing is pog just looks immensely easy riding 70+ kms on his own while never going into his red zone, it seems.

 

[BubbaChuck]

remco needs to abandon everything else,but long climbing.forget every 1 day race and stage racing for ayear.only way.

 

[Sciatic]

remco needs to abandon everything else,but long climbing.forget every 1 day race and stage racing for ayear.only way.

Please no, dont abandon all the things you’re great at just to have a chance to maybe be good (but not great) at another.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

remco needs to abandon everything else,but long climbing.forget every 1 day race and stage racing for ayear.only way.

Remco needs to level up like Pog did from 2023 to 2024. I would seriously have liked to see how Evenepoel would have compared to pre-2024 Pog last year in the Tour and this year during WCC/ECC.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Yeah, I actually don't know if I agree. I think it's totally fine for him to continue prioritizing along his current relative strengths, which IMO are: 1) ITT, 2) Hilly classics + championships, 3) Stage races. This is still the most interesting path and potentially most rewarding for him and his fans, and he can still win across disciplines, though it will be tougher (outside of ITT, where he reigns supreme).

However, if he is not satisfied with where he fits in the hierarchy in stage races and/or classics, I'd recommend he pick one or the other of Hilly classics OR stage races to 100% focus on. I think he could still win or at least contend for wins in the other, but if he wants to be the best in classics or stage races in a world with Pogacar, Vingegaard, and MVDP, I think he should pick a primary focus area and let the other should be a byproduct.

IMO, his easiest path is to go all in on classics, in which case he has a realistic chance of competing with Pogacar in LBL, IL, and WCRR and a decent chance at developing into a contender at MSR and RVV. P-R wouldn't be impossible but nothing he has done so far indicates he could win that race. He could still probably do OK in some stage races, though not realistically target a GT win in this scenario. I'd love to see what he can do in a classics focused calendar. I think this fits better with his natural talents.

Alternate scenario is a little less interesting IMO. That scenario involves relentless focus on weight, watts/kg, long climbs while maintaining but not focusing on his ITT skills. Classics should take a backseat to a calendar full of stage races. IMO, I'd target a win or two in a one week stage race, plus would do the Giro + Vuelta next year. After a year of laser focus on stage racing, I'd take stock and go all in on a Froome style calendar focused on the Tour in 2027.

Just my two cents.

 

[Berniece]

what you mean... did he have to ? you dont think Pog can drop Remco on 2km 10% climb ? If Pogacar wanted to make his life easy he would just drop everybody on last climb and I am 100% he could.

1.5km at 10% is a different effort than 7km’s. Doesn’t take as long. He barely went faster than Evenepoel when both of them were solo on the climbs. Nothing showed he would’ve dropped Evenepoel on such a short effort.

 

[AmRacer]

1.5km at 10% is a different effort than 7km’s. Doesn’t take as long. He barely went faster than Evenepoel when both of them were solo on the climbs. Nothing showed he would’ve dropped Evenepoel on such a short effort.

Of course Pogi didn't went full gas. He can easily drop Remco whenever he wants.

 

[chickenlips]

So many imaginary scenarios where Remco could beat Pog, but in reality he would be better avoiding him.

 

[dobrien]

Pogacar almost always stays at the front and monitors who attacks though. That’s why he’s not caught in the back with Evenepoel or MVDP when stuff starts to kick off. Nor has he not had any qualms of following an attack on the flat.

Beat me to it! Unlike Remco (who I'm regularly yelling at on the TV) I honestly cannot remember the last time I've seen Pog out of position. That's one of the biggest problems Remco has trying to compete with Pog; Tadej is far more than just a watt monster. He has great positional and tactical sense, great bike handler and descender, etc etc. Imho, outside of dedicated TT's he currently seems better than Remco in just about every aspect of cycling which matters; until Pog starts his decline he's going to be a very very difficult nut for the kid to crack.

And I say this all as a big Remco fan, so please hold the flames (I realize this is probably a futile request! )

 

[Berniece]

So many imaginary scenarios where Remco could beat Pog, but in reality he would be better avoiding him.

Avoid him? If Evenepoel needs to start avoiding him, then no one needs to ride against Pogacar anymore. You guys really are desperate to see him reach the amount of wins Merckx had.

 

[dobrien]

Please no, dont abandon all the things you’re great at just to have a chance to maybe be good (but not great) at another.

This times about a million.

 

[peterfin]

Of course Pogi didn't went full gas. He can easily drop Remco whenever he wants.

Even if he could, the gap might not be big enough. Remco would have a clear target in the decent. Maybe Pogacar could go all in to keep him at distance during the last pass over the climb but earlier it would be difficult and tactically better to join forces.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Remco already has a spectacular palmares himself and outside of MvP the only one really willing to take it to Pog.

Ah, that's the new narrative I see. Remco the only one trying. Mathieu too, but since it's only in 3 races really, hardly counts. Remco is the man. Pogacar's equal when it comes to mentality! Vingegaard of course never ever tries to beat Pogacar, no winning mentality. Nobody tries but Remco! Complete BS. Remco is just the only one that at this point can somehow hope to beat Pogacar in a certain type of 1 day races. It's not lack of trying in the case of let's say Lipowitz and Van Gils. It's lack of legs. Remco is not above the rest in mentality, just in legs. Except Vingegaard in GTs. Possibly Almeida by now, but ok, he never tries to beat Pogacar, that's true.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Avoid him? If Evenepoel needs to start avoiding him, then no one needs to ride against Pogacar anymore. You guys really are desperate to see him reach the amount of wins Merckx had.

What has Evenepoel stopped Pogacar winning besides AGR this year, two Tour TT stages, and a bronze WC TT medal? It hasn’t been like Evenepoel beat Pogacar like MVDP or Vingegaard directly stopping additional monument, Tour, and stage wins.

 

[peterfin]

Yeah, I actually don't know if I agree. I think it's totally fine for him to continue prioritizing along his current relative strengths, which IMO are: 1) ITT, 2) Hilly classics + championships, 3) Stage races. This is still the most interesting path and potentially most rewarding for him and his fans, and he can still win across disciplines, though it will be tougher (outside of ITT, where he reigns supreme).

However, if he is not satisfied with where he fits in the hierarchy in stage races and/or classics, I'd recommend he pick one or the other of Hilly classics OR stage races to 100% focus on. I think he could still win or at least contend for wins in the other, but if he wants to be the best in classics or stage races in a world with Pogacar, Vingegaard, and MVDP, I think he should pick a primary focus area and let the other should be a byproduct.

IMO, his easiest path is to go all in on classics, in which case he has a realistic chance of competing with Pogacar in LBL, IL, and WCRR and a decent chance at developing into a contender at MSR and RVV. P-R wouldn't be impossible but nothing he has done so far indicates he could win that race. He could still probably do OK in some stage races, though not realistically target a GT win in this scenario. I'd love to see what he can do in a classics focused calendar. I think this fits better with his natural talents.

Alternate scenario is a little less interesting IMO. That scenario involves relentless focus on weight, watts/kg, long climbs while maintaining but not focusing on his ITT skills. Classics should take a backseat to a calendar full of stage races. IMO, I'd target a win or two in a one week stage race, plus would do the Giro + Vuelta next year. After a year of laser focus on stage racing, I'd take stock and go all in on a Froome style calendar focused on the Tour in 2027.

Just my two cents.

He shouldn't give up his TdF dream but he obviously has the biggest chance to challenge him in the classics and WC RR. The gap between him and the rest is huge too so it is a matter of minimizing the damage on the climbs to have a chance in the races with hard climbs.

I think he has the qualities to go for the 5 classics. Even P-R seems doable. His low weight makes it hard but his endurance is only challenged by Pogacar and MVDP.