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If it's the only selective mountain stage and it is with an average speed >34 km/h, I'd think so.
And because Contador wasn't at the 2012 tour. Contador wins that tour easily as he'd have mauled Wiggins on La Touissure and could ride an outstanding very long ITT
Remco would love a route like that, with a normal amount of ITT. Except his climbing appears to be a level above Wiggins
Just lookin' at the faces on that last climb, to me it felt Remco wasn't even on the limit today. (Bernal also looking strong)
We'll see what happens, everybody seems to think Bernal is going to drop Evenepoel on some climb, but climbing is all about watt/kg and I wouldn't be surprised if Evenepoel is keeping his cards hidden till later in this Giro.
I think INEOS has better chances in the hilly stages and the Strade stage than on the mountain stages to attack and put DQS under pressure.
But well see, it's also possible Remco is going to crack one day, but I still believe his numbers are very good and he's ready to fight for pink.
We'll see what happens, everybody seems to think Bernal is going to drop Evenepoel on some climb, but climbing is all about watt/kg and I wouldn't be surprised if Evenepoel is keeping his cards hidden till later in this Giro.
I think INEOS has better chances in the hilly stages and the Strade stage than on the mountain stages to attack and put DQS under pressure.
But well see, it's also possible Remco is going to crack one day, but I still believe his numbers are very good and he's ready to fight for pink.
If, if he had climbed to the best of his ability and TTed to the best of his ability. And suddenly this does not look that easy.
Only if Evenepoel is still Adriatica Ionica 2019 levels bad on the sterrato. Otherwise no.
Big Doopie
BANNED
maybe I am being a little wary. I think the jury is still out. I do not think he has reached 2020 levels.
Is "sprat" a portmanteau combining "spoiled" + "brat"? If so, lol.
Ha, I thought it was a play off the nursery rhyme:
“Jack Sprat would eat no fat; his wife would eat no lean ...”
But didn’t understand the connection, unless it was Remco’s thinning down?
A sprat is just a species of small fish. So it's a joke about Nibali being nicknamed 'the Shark' but not performing at a top level. Then he is 'the Sprat' instead I guess.
He's never done a bad TT after 3 weeks hard racing so far, so... looking good!
It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend. Both stages have climbs that should suit Evenepoel better (just like yesterday). On one hand it’s probably best to just keep calm and save energy for the really big mountain stages but one has to wonder if he shouldn’t try to get some extra time if he feels like he’s able to. He might regret it if he later gets slapped with a minute or two on the stages with multiple mountains and steep gradients.
Also: while it can be said that the rainy stages are a disadvantage for him (he doesn’t like plus he’s really not built for it, especially after not racing this long and having lost extra weight), it has also stopped guys like Bernal and Yates to produce their crazy Watts/Kg. Something Evenepoel hasn’t really proven to be capable of on longer climbs.
Talk is easy if course. He still has to have the legs this weekend and who’s to say he won’t get a big setback anyway later this Giro.
But it is something that crosses my mind after his performance of yesterday.
Also: while it can be said that the rainy stages are a disadvantage for him (he doesn’t like plus he’s really not built for it, especially after not racing this long and having lost extra weight), it has also stopped guys like Bernal and Yates to produce their crazy Watts/Kg. Something Evenepoel hasn’t really proven to be capable of on longer climbs.
Talk is easy if course. He still has to have the legs this weekend and who’s to say he won’t get a big setback anyway later this Giro.
But it is something that crosses my mind after his performance of yesterday.
We have no evidence of him improving though. And it's not like he underperformed in that race because he was out of shape. He went on a spectacular solo two days later and won with a 2 minutes advantage. That was already a very good Remco who would dominate San Sebastian a week later.
Honestly his bike handling still worries me a lot. Surely more than his ability to climb on steep gradients with the best. I also don't think DQS has a particularly good team for the sterrato stage here, but that's just speculation on my part.
What’s wrong with his bike handling? Apart from the apparent event - does he have a history of other crashes? Or is he just slow/insecure? And if so - how insecure are we talking about (Kruijswijk level or Zakarin level)?
He crashed quite a bit early on in 2019. IIRC he had 8 crashes. He also had a bad time with sterrato in the Ionica race also in 2019.
Of course he's a bit tentative due to the horrific crash at Lombardia
I remember Logic keeping track of all his crashes in his rookie season and there were quite a lot. Last year was a bit better until Lombardia.
I could see Evenepoel struggle on the "Strade" ride, maybe. But the idea that he's going to have difficulties on a climb like Zoncolan seems like wishful thinking to me. Riding a hard pace for a long time is his main forte, is it not? And especially now that he's lighter than ever... I just don't see it happening to be honest. If anything it would be the short efforts uphill or perhaps surprising him downhill, that might work. I would also be very surprised if he doesn't have the required recovery ability for a 3-week race, he seems like he's made to be a GC rider. I could be very wrong and perhaps he's going to disappoint for the first time, but I really don't think so.
Also it's quite scary for him to be this good after 9 months of no competition. Still only 21 years old; if this guy is going to get even better (which is very likely)... Starting to feel sorry for his competitors.
Also it's quite scary for him to be this good after 9 months of no competition. Still only 21 years old; if this guy is going to get even better (which is very likely)... Starting to feel sorry for his competitors.
I see a looot of assumptions and extrapolations that confuse me. I think it's wishful thinking to question him on a climb like the Zoncolan when he's literally never done a climb like that in a big race and when Bernal is probably one of the 3 best climbers in the world. Yet some see him not losing time on a cat 2 climb with a headwind and then imply Pogacar should be scared? I see assumptions that longer, steeper climbs suit him better when his previous results indicate otherwise. I see people assuming he'll take 2 minutes out of his opponents in the ITT when even his Algarve ITT, while winning, had him taking under 40s out of MAL. It's like he's simulataneously not recovered to his 2020 standard, while being much better than 2020 while still having to get a huge lot better.
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