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

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Is he shorter than Leipheimer?

1 cm taller.

 

[limak_]

He currently weighs 63.5kg and expects to lose 3-3.5 kg by the time the Giro starts. He says he was a bit too skinny in the winter, and he was eating according to the training schedule, but they didn't take fully into account that his body was also still recovering physically from the crash. This also likely hampered his recovery.

21 year old rider, recovering from serious injury, being in offseason nad sticking to very restricted eating schedule which just means being continously on caloric deficit... What could have gone wrong?

Union of broken bones demands a lot of additional energy from a body and that's really a basic knowledge. Add to that previously mentioned some kind of miscommunication with his doctor. All of this seems just unaccepatble at this level of sport.. Being unable to treat fractured bones of professional athlete (probably the biggest cycyling's talents nowadays) properly in 21st century is ridiculous.

For me it is his team DQS that is responsible for this whole situation and Remco's delayed comeback. They should've done everything to make sure that their kid is taking appropriate actions in terms of his recovery every single day and in every possible aspect. He should've been under best possible specialists' (doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians) supervision every single day but instead we read things like "communication errors" and that they didn't take into account that human's body need extra energy when recovering from an injury...

Apart from that, this is the next lesson for cyclists that restricting calories in endurance sports like cycling should be done extremely carefully and wisely as in most cases it impairs riders' performance, leads to eating disorders or could significantly extend recovery time like in this case (such voices are heard from the peleton more and more frequently - last example of Cimolai)

 

[BlueRoads]

21 year old rider, recovering from serious injury, being in offseason nad sticking to very restricted eating schedule which just means being continously on caloric deficit... What could have gone wrong?

Union of broken bones demands a lot of additional energy from a body and that's really a basic knowledge. Add to that previously mentioned some kind of miscommunication with his doctor. All of this seems just unaccepatble at this level of sport.. Being unable to treat fractured bones of professional athlete (probably the biggest cycyling's talents nowadays) properly in 21st century is ridiculous.

For me it is his team DQS that is responsible for this whole situation and Remco's delayed comeback. They should've done everything to make sure that their kid is taking appropriate actions in terms of his recovery every single day and in every possible aspect. He should've been under best possible specialists' (doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians) supervision every single day but instead we read things like "communication errors" and that they didn't take into account that human's body need extra energy when recovering from an injury...

Apart from that, this is the next lesson for cyclists that restricting calories in endurance sports like cycling should be done extremely carefully and wisely as in most cases it impairs riders' performance, leads to eating disorders or could significantly extend recovery time like in this case (such voices are heard from the peleton more and more frequently - last example of Cimolai)

As much as I agree with you in general, do we really think DQS are not capable or ignorant? They should have some of the best sports and medical staff around. I think sometimes things just go wrong, and with the lockdown rules things might have been a bit more difficult.

 

[Extinction]

So, after watching the entire interview, some things that didn't make the written article:

Clearly they expect or at least are wary that there might be some instances during the Giro where he will not be able to follow the GC guys with this preparation. The idea is to "pick a few days" to go all out, and see where it leads him. After the Giro he will take a break and go on altitude to prepare for the Olympics. Chances are he'll also go to the Vuelta, and that he'll be going for GC in Spain. The season is all about the Olympics, so it would make sense to include the Vuelta.

He'd like Almeida to go with him to the Giro, and maybe they can do something together. In case he cracks, he would like to work for João. (He brought this up himself, this wasn't a question from the interviewer). Taking into account the possibility that he'll have lost significant time in GC, he also draws inspiration from Froome's raid in 2018, winning the Giro from a lost position. He says he's seen that video more than a hundred times.

He currently weighs 63.5kg and expects to lose 3-3.5 kg by the time the Giro starts. He says he was a bit too skinny in the winter, and he was eating according to the training schedule, but they didn't take fully into account that his body was also still recovering physically from the crash. This also likely hampered his recovery.

In fact, he looked anorexic over the winter. This fetish for thinness is a dangerous culture particularly among the neopros, whose lack of maturity under pressure can lead to obssessing over that which, in reality, weakens you . Hopefully they get his power to weight ratio right and Remco stops fixating over his weight. Let it go mate. Pogacar did it right last year, neither too heavy nor too thin. It's one thing to be 28 on the Sky marginal gains regiment, another to be a 21 year-old kid with a huge margin for improvement. Don't kill it Remco by being anorexic!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He'll be going to Tenerife for two weeks in March (6th-21st), to train on the Teide, together with Mikkel Honoré.

21 year old rider, recovering from serious injury, being in offseason nad sticking to very restricted eating schedule which just means being continously on caloric deficit... What could have gone wrong?

Union of broken bones demands a lot of additional energy from a body and that's really a basic knowledge. Add to that previously mentioned some kind of miscommunication with his doctor. All of this seems just unaccepatble at this level of sport.. Being unable to treat fractured bones of professional athlete (probably the biggest cycyling's talents nowadays) properly in 21st century is ridiculous.

For me it is his team DQS that is responsible for this whole situation and Remco's delayed comeback. They should've done everything to make sure that their kid is taking appropriate actions in terms of his recovery every single day and in every possible aspect. He should've been under best possible specialists' (doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians) supervision every single day but instead we read things like "communication errors" and that they didn't take into account that human's body need extra energy when recovering from an injury...

Apart from that, this is the next lesson for cyclists that restricting calories in endurance sports like cycling should be done extremely carefully and wisely as in most cases it impairs riders' performance, leads to eating disorders or could significantly extend recovery time like in this case (such voices are heard from the peleton more and more frequently - last example of Cimolai)

As stated before, i complety agree. They fckd up not coaching him enough on numerous occasions.

 

[limak_]

As much as I agree with you in general, do we really think DQS are not capable or ignorant? They should have some of the best sports and medical staff around. I think sometimes things just go wrong, and with the lockdown rules things might have been a bit more difficult.

Yes, in this particular case DQS appeared to be not capable and ignorant. That's my opinion. I can't think different when we see how elementary mistakes have been done with coaching their young prospect. As it was just said, they just fu**ed up.
I also didn't say that they didn't have best sports and medical staff around. I belive they have, but apparently the haven't use them properly.
Lockdown is a great excuse for everyone and for everything these times and I don't buy this one. And hey, we're talking about a Belgian kid in a Belgian team. Then I'm sorry, but I wouldn't excuse DQS in any possible way.

 

[Oldermanish]

I suppose pheasants can sense danger (such as foxes and eagles) but it couldn't escape a flying bike rider?

They don't take off that quickly......bang.

 

[memyselfandI]

But will Remco Evenepoel be the next João Almeida, it still stays unclear, 14 days on the pink for starters, things like that?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

But will Remco Evenepoel be the next João Almeida, it still stays unclear, 14 days on the pink for starters, things like that?

I'm sure he will not be the next João Almeida.

 

[red_flanders]

But will Remco Evenepoel be the next João Almeida, it still stays unclear, 14 days on the pink for starters, things like that?

I don't think we know enough about what kind of career João Almeida will have to know if anyone is the next João Almeida, but I think we can confidently say they aren't comparable talents. That said, Almeida strongly out-performed expectations in the Giro and reset who people think he is.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

I don't think we know enough about what kind of career João Almeida will have to know if anyone is the next João Almeida, but I think we can confidently say they aren't comparable talents. That said, Almeida strongly out-performed expectations in the Giro and reset who people think he is.

I think we’re getting a pretty idea despite his young age. Alameida’s ceiling is probably a GT win in Giro or La Vuelta field.

Having Evenepoel as a a super domestique would make a big difference.
Alameida is top 25 or better TT’er and he’s reasonably good climber.

Remco is top 3 TT’er and may end up being the best if he gets back to his form.

 

[SafeBet]

I think we’re getting a pretty idea despite his young age. Alameida’s ceiling is probably a GT win in Giro or La Vuelta field.

How do you know?
Plenty of Tour winners were nowhere near Almeida's level in GTs at comparable age.

 

[limak_]

How do you know?
Plenty of Tour winners were nowhere near Almeida's level in GTs at comparable age.

You might be right, but times are changing and 21-22 year old guys win GTs nowadays.

 

[spalco]

I think we’re getting a pretty idea despite his young age. Alameida’s ceiling is probably a GT win in Giro or La Vuelta field.

Having Evenepoel as a a super domestique would make a big difference.
Alameida is top 25 or better TT’er and he’s reasonably good climber.

Remco is top 3 TT’er and may end up being the best if he gets back to his form.

If your ceiling is a Giro/Vuelta win, than winning the Tour is probably also in the realm of possibility when things go right.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If your ceiling is a Giro/Vuelta win, than winning the Tour is probably also in the realm of possibility when things go right.

Really depends. I can see no scenario in which Hesjedal would ever have won the Tour.

Unless the best 10 riders rode off a cliff together.

 

[spalco]

Hm, good point, there are outliers.

Although I wouldn't be able to imagine Hesjedal winning the Giro either if I didn't know that he did.

 

[Bonimenier]

On the other hand I can see no scenario in which Oscar Pereiro would ever have won the Giro or the Vuelta.

 

[Boes]

Or Sastre the tour...

 

[memyselfandI]

Well in GT racing that's where team mate Almeida set the bar for Remco. Actually it's quite thrilling situation when your team mate does it. It did not look like Voeckler to me. To repeat and overcome that is in practice to win the overall, it really huge task for your maiden GT.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

On the other hand I can see no scenario in which Oscar Pereiro would ever have won the Giro or the Vuelta.

David Arroyo wasn't far from winning the Giro in a sort of similar way to Pereiro's Tour win, so in theory Pereiro could have done the same in the Giro, but obviously not after he actually won the Tour. And if he had won the Giro that way, he would never have been able to do the same in the Tour afterwards.

 

[red_flanders]

For me the big takeaway from Almeida's performance in the Giro was that Quick-Step have someone who can well and truly support RE in the mountains. It's my view that the team will continue to add folks to support his ambitions and form part of their historically very classics-oriented squad around Remco's talents.

It's going to get interesting when JA's ambitions and RE's inevitably come into conflict. We're not there yet, but it's got to be in the back of their minds.

 

[Bonimenier]

For me the big takeaway from Almeida's performance in the Giro was that Quick-Step have someone who can well and truly support RE in the mountains. It's my view that the team will continue to add folks to support his ambitions and form part of their historically very classics-oriented squad around Remco's talents.

It's going to get interesting when JA's ambitions and RE's inevitably come into conflict. We're not there yet, but it's got to be in the back of their minds.

In 1 day races they can definitely coexist. The way they need to finish is so different that I would say it's probably even a plus for the team. It's also just a trademark of the team to have multiple leaders.

I feel like the only way their ambitions would conflict, is when they both want to go for GC in the Tour. But is this really where Alaphilippe's ambitions lie? They probably just won't bring a sprinter and leadout anymore the moment the Tour becomes Evenepoel's goal.

 

[red_flanders]

In 1 day races they can definitely coexist. The way they need to finish is so different that I would say it's probably even a plus for the team. It's also just a trademark of the team to have multiple leaders.

I feel like the only way their ambitions would conflict, is when they both want to go for GC in the Tour. But is this really where Alaphilippe's ambitions lie? They probably just won't bring a sprinter and leadout anymore the moment the Tour becomes Evenepoel's goal.

Yes, agreed, I was referring to GT ambitions but you make a great point about how their respective skills can be put to advantage for the team.

 

[houtdffan]

For me the big takeaway from Almeida's performance in the Giro was that Quick-Step have someone who can well and truly support RE in the mountains. It's my view that the team will continue to add folks to support his ambitions and form part of their historically very classics-oriented squad around Remco's talents.

It's going to get interesting when JA's ambitions and RE's inevitably come into conflict. We're not there yet, but it's got to be in the back of their minds.

Alaphilippe should be the one to give his 3 best km, leading out a massive Evenepoel attack. Alap is simply not going to win the tour. Alap may not be the traditional mountain dom. However, he can do a brutal 3km, whittle the field down to 5 or 10 riders and let Evenepoel do the rest

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Well in GT racing that's where team mate Almeida set the bar for Remco. Actually it's quite thrilling situation when your team mate does it. It did not look like Voeckler to me. To repeat and overcome that is in practice to win the overall, it really huge task for your maiden GT.

Almeida deserves all the praise and acknowledgement for his Giro last year. I don't think anybody will debate that, or think anybody will not see the potential he has. But he's also roughly 18 months older, and the things Remco has already shown as a pro at the age of 19, are simply unprecedented. And not simply the results, but the manner in which he achieved those results. Not one win or one medal was "poached". Not one result was undeserved, or in question of whether he was the best in the race. No wheelsucking to jump away in the final 50 meters, no gambling and letting someone else do the dirty work, no hiding behind the strength of his team. When Evenepoel was winning Classica San Sebastian, the 18 months older Almeida had just finished the Peace Race U23 and finished 45th in GC and 33th in Tour of California. Almeida was the same age then, as Remco is now. There is a reason why many people simply expect more from Evenepoel. Nothing is for sure, and winning 5 one week stage races at the age of 20 does not mean he will win (multiple) GT's, but neither does finishing top 5 in a Giro where all the big hitters failed to finish. Imagine a Giro where Thomas, Lopez, Kruijswijk, Yates, Vlasov... all made the finishline in good health, and Almeida didn't make the top 10, would you be still be making the same point?