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

[Red Rick]

Let me understand this: I said I see no reason to believe Froome or Contador would be a big threat to Pogacar or Vingegaard. And Landa finishing 4th in 2017, a good 2 minutes down, and finishing 5th in 2024, about 20 minutes down, is supposed to be evidence to the contrary?

As for Roglic, in 2018 he was still up and coming (as opposed to 2019 when he probably could have won it), finished a good 3 minutes behind Thomas, and in 2025 he's 25 minutes down. So what is it you're saying, exactly?

Gaps are mostly due to overall aggression of the race.

Also, Pogacar has yet to win a Tour de France by a bigger gap than Nibali did.

 

[proffate]

I appears Froome was doing everything he can to be as lean as possible. Even things I would not recommend, such as fasted training and drinking only sparkling water and semi starving. And still, there was no apparent performance diminishment.
In, general I have never seen a pro rider say something akin to I was too lean so I did not do well on the Alpe. (This is possible, as I wrote earlier, but one needs to be doing some radical stuff).

It has been clear that there are drugs which suppress appetite (among other things) for quite some time now, so idk if I would call it a revolution. Nevertheless, it does not prove anything.
As I wrote earlier, what is important is to fuel your training well, train well, recover well and also very important to stay focused and disciplined (not just with food but with everything else in life).
That ensures that the body operates at its leanest point without sacrificing performance.
Edit: If we speak about Remco concretely, we have seen him leaner and performing well, so his current state is not even up for debate.

If you're trying to say glp drugs have not revolutionized weight management you're just being contrarian. The US recorded its first ever drop in adult obesity. Bariatric surgery is a thing of the past. Fortunes have been made by the pharma companies. None of this would be true if there had already existed safe and effective appetite suppressants. And if you have never seen someone struggle with the urge to make a moral judgment against their neighbor for using glp drugs to fix their relationship with food, you've just been living under a rock.

 

[kingjr]

Gaps are mostly due to overall aggression of the race.

Also, Pogacar has yet to win a Tour de France by a bigger gap than Nibali did.

Better riders are better able to successfully ride aggressively.
And Pogacar has yet to ride a Tour where his strongest rival is someone of the quality of Thibaut Pinot.

 

[Divergence]

If you're trying to say glp drugs have not revolutionized weight management you're just being contrarian. The US recorded its first ever drop in adult obesity. Bariatric surgery is a thing of the past. Fortunes have been made by the pharma companies. None of this would be true if there had already existed safe and effective appetite suppressants. And if you have never seen someone struggle with the urge to make a moral judgment against their neighbor for using glp drugs to fix their relationship with food, you've just been living under a rock.

Fist of all, you are talking about the general population here. I am talking about professional cyclists. Second, I am not be quite ready to proclaim that these drugs are "safe" appetite suppressants.
But, most importantly, it is not by using appetite suppressants how pro athletes would be reaching their maximum potential. Rather, one needs to eat so that one can train. In order not the go around snacking and having some beers one does not need appetite suppressants but rather higher level of discipline.
I will stop responding to you because I sense you have some personal connections to these issues and I am not interested in that.

 

[LookProGoSlow]

very underwhelming in UAE

 

[houtdffan]

how many minutes did he lose today?

His climbing has been awful ever since he hit that postal door. Hoping there was nothing permanent in that crash that keeps him from performing in the high mountains going forward

 

[peterfin]

I see a pattern. Starting the season with a bang and then lights out.

 

[AmRacer]

I see a pattern. Starting the season with a bang and then lights out.

Different competition, different races.

 

[KoopaCycling]

He was 1 minute down. Catalunya will tell much. His climbing needs to show improvement by then, compared to this stage race.

He did manage to beat Van wilder courtesy of a crashing help in GC. Some of the riders ahead of him (Johannessen, Gee, Plapp) i would expect remco to be beat in years gone by. This gives me hope he's still in early season form only. Still for his own sake, he better be ready when the end of March comes around.

 

[dazaau]

I see a pattern. Starting the season with a bang and then lights out.

Also not the same level of races and competition to UAE tour. Still very early in the season when talking about the tour.

 

[peterfin]

Also not the same level of races and competition to UAE tour. Still very early in the season when talking about the tour.

Sure but Tiberi and co where there too.

 

[Rou]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

 

[Salvarani]

Sure but Tiberi and co where there too.

Not long climbs.

Terrain suited him better there.

It was more hillier or short-steep and Remco could drop a watt-bomb over the top, which we have seen many times before. Its his best move. Then TT to finish, where he maybe did look around over his shoulder a bit too much towards the end of that stage.

 

[canina82]

Sure but Tiberi and co where there too.

Different type of races. Those stages and classics Remco won were tailormade for him. No one questions how much better Remco is compared to anyone not named Pogacar in rolling terrain.

 

[KoopaCycling]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

Surely he's got the base covered this time around. It's the building on top that seems only half build atm.
I find it strangely encouraging he was not good enough this time around as well.

 

[Cycling111]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

I already said that Vingegaard didn't go because he only wants to compete to win before the Tour.

Although Vingegaard should be able to beat Plapp by more than 12 seconds even without being in top shape.

 

[Gianetti_Is_The_Goat]

Different competition, different races.

Tiberi was also there in Valencia and Almeida is doing fine in Algarve.

 

[AmRacer]

Tiberi was also there in Valencia and Almeida is doing fine in Algarve.

Remco has won both the UAE Tour and Algarve, maybe he was better before.

 

[houtdffan]

Del Toro did the climb 41 seconds faster than Yates in 2023

Remco's climb seems very similar to his 2023 climb

 

[saunaking]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

What's wrong with his base? Finally he had a good offseason of preparation.
That is an excuse for previous years, not 2026

 

[Cycling111]

Del Toro did the climb 41 seconds faster than Yates in 2023

Remco's climb seems very similar to his 2023 climb

Don't focus on that, focus on everyone who finished ahead. Plapp isn't better than Yates, just as Remco isn't better climber than Pantani for having a better time climb than him.

 

[Snake]

I don't think he’s ever put in an impressive climbing performance without doing an altitude camp first

 

[Extinction]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come herale when he clearly does not have the base?

He should have done anltitude camp on Tiede instead.

 

[Divergence]

He should have done anltitude camp on Tiede instead.

I do not think even a TC on the moon would have helped.

 

[Red Rick]

In 2019, his first WT race, he also got 15th on Jebel Hafeet.

The phrase "back to square 1" comes to mind.