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

[limak_]

Well Ullrich did once He did everything on his own tempo back than. Only in the TT he tried his best and all other stages were like training rides for him.

Sounds like the one and only right approach that Remco should've taken from the beginning of the race (if he truly didn't see another option for himself to open this season in a different way than doing Giro).

 

[Red Rick]

Remco said after the finish that he had an off-day and that this was something they knew could happen. He also said that he would now evaluate what he can do for Almeida and the team. He said that he definitely wants to finish in Milan.

Good mindset.

 

[Riek s]

From hln:

Evenepoel komt binnen op 24 minuten van Bernal: “Maar wil de Giro sowieso uitrijden”

De koninginnenrit in de Ronde van Italië heeft zijn tol geëist bij Remco Evenepoel. Onze landgenoot verdween al vrij vroeg uit beeld en finishte uiteindelijk op meer dan 24 minuten van winnaar Egan Bernal. Evenepoel valt zo uit de top tien, maar afstappen is voor hem geen optie. “Al voel ik me...

www.hln.be

“Ik had geen verwachtingen, enkel de media waren aan het dromen”, leek Evenepoel wat gepikeerd aan de ploegbus. “Met twee maanden training kan je niet veel verwachten.”

In de stand tuimelt Evenepoel ver weg uit de top tien, het doel dat hij voor ogen had nadat de roze trui buiten handbereik leek. Maar opgeven op de rustdag, is hij niet van plan. “Ik voel me elke dag minder en minder worden, maar ik wil de Giro sowieso uitrijden. Dit is één groot leerproces om mee te nemen naar volgend jaar. Vandaag voelde ik al snel dat het lichaam niet mee wou, dus ben ik ook niet over de limiet gegaan om te proberen volgen. Mijn lichaam is gewoon niet klaar om mee te doen voor de eindzege.”

"I didn't have any expectations, only the media was dreaming". said a slightly irritated? Evenepoel at the tourbus. "With 2 months of training you can't expect much".

"I feel myself getting slightly less day by day, but i want to complete the Giro. This is one big learning process that i want to take along for next year. Today I realized early on that my body didn't want to go along, so I didn't cross my limit to try to keep pace with the others. My body is just not ready yet to battle for victory"

 

[Ripper]

The uniqueness of GT's 3rd week stress and load could actually be quite harmful if you're so underprepared (even if not that much exhausted or injured). I've never heard anyone racing Giro just for the unique training conditions it provides in 3rd week.

Yes, he obviously lacks endurance (that'd be a miracle if he wasn't), but why to build it up during Giro? (I'm also reffering to him doing this Giro at all). Training camps, a series of one-day races, 1-week races are the places when you build your endurance.
Why Slovenians are not doing the Giro as a preparation for the Tour, if it really is that beneficial? Why they actually decided not to do much racing and prepare calmly in a more controlled conditions of the training camps?

Of course, that's why I noted a couple of caveats in my comment. Burying oneself is not a good idea

Of course people have used GTs for training purposes! Another name is Lemond.

 

[Parrulo]

Remco arriving at the bus

I actually feel sorry for the kid. There was a huge circus built arround him and he probably bought a bit into it.

The odds of this going terribly were huge right from the start. He should have started with a couple of smaller stage races and go for the Vuelta later this year.

 

[Baldinger]

From hln:
"I didn't have any expectations, only the media was dreaming". said a slightly irritated? Evenepoel at the tourbus. "With 2 months of training you can't expect much".

What a silly remark. Deceuninck has been reduced to a bunch of babysitters since day one, so of course they had some kind of expectations.

 

[Escarabajo]

He did do an altitude training in Pardollano in the Sierra Nevada along with Almeida. I don't know how the climbs are there though.

That's not relevant at all considering he had been off the bike for 8 months after a horrible injury!

 

[limak_]

Of course, that's why I noted a couple of caveats in my comment.

Which I have also included in my post

Of course people have used GTs for training purposes! Another name is Lemond.

Ullrich, Lemond... Indeed, I must've forgotten what was the name of this thread and that ordinary rules doesn't really apply to riders of Remco's kind.

 

[Fantastico]

You're right, next year the expectations will be even higher (assuming everything will be ok with him until then). But simultaneously Remco will (hopefully) be a stronger rider, well prepared to race a GT, so those expectations will be more reasonable then and also Remco will definitely be much more capable of meeting this expectations.
(For instance I can see Remco winning last year's Giro as a very very likely scenario - no overhype here imo.)

I agree with most of your post, but not with this part. Having even higher expectations next year will not be reasonable at all (and it also wasn't last year), since so far, he has not shown to be capable of fighting for the win in a GT. It's totally speculative to think that his performance in this Giro is solely attributed to a lack of preparation. Of course, this is possible and it definitely contributed to it, but it is also possible that he will never be a rider for three-week races. If anything, this Giro showed that he still has a lot to learn w.r.t. riding a GT.

Just give the man his time to develop and he will (hopefully) become a great GT rider. But dreaming about him winning last year's Giro does him no favor.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Letting him start in the Giro probably wasn't a good idea. He could have done Tour de Suisse, Olympics and the Vuelta, with a gradual build-up and better chances at a good result. Well, it's too late to change that now. He'll need to take some rest and choose the right goals for the rest of the season.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

He did do an altitude training in Pardollano in the Sierra Nevada along with Almeida. I don't know how the climbs are there though.

Ah yes, forgot about that.

O/T but I wonder why I never hear about training camps on Gran Canaria. There's a 1900m HC beast just waiting for them to get those crazy training rides in ....and yet everyone always opts for Tenerife with its crazy long tempo climbs because it's just high enough to get your altitude training in (and Gran Canaria isn't).

But who really believes in altitude training anymore? /tangent

 

[Oldermanish]

Ah yes, forgot about that.

O/T but I wonder why I never hear about training camps on Gran Canaria. There's a 1900m HC beast just waiting for them to get those crazy training rides in ....and yet everyone always opts for Tenerife with its crazy long tempo climbs because it's just high enough to get your altitude training in (and Gran Canaria isn't).

But who really believes in altitude training anymore? /tangent

Bernal likely does. And riding in every kind of weather.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Let's hope he stays in the giro so he can help the leader

Agreed. But he should first wait half an hour, obviously.

 

[Inquitus]

Remco should go home now, and start recovering for whatever is next on his agenda, he's proven himself well, considering this is his first outing in 9 months, we can expect more in future when he is coming off a proper training and race block.

 

[limak_]

I agree with most of your post, but not with this part. Having even higher expectations next year will not be reasonable at all (and it also wasn't last year), since so far, he has not shown to be capable of fighting for the win in a GT. It's totally speculative to think that his performance in this Giro is solely attributed to a lack of preparation. Of course, this is possible and it definitely contributed to it, but it is also possible that he will never be a rider for three-week races. If anything, this Giro showed that he still has a lot to learn w.r.t. riding a GT.

Ok, maybe I went little bit too far with saying that high expectations will be totally reasonable. Anyway I still think that the lack of preparation is strongly affecting his current performance (remember, it's not only lack of preparation but also post-injury complications that were still giving him trouble on the bike not so long ago). Especially when we see that his main problem now is the lack of endurance (you obviously can't win a GT not having endurance, while lack of explosiveness or gravel skills are not that much of the obstacles in fact), which is a clear consequence of not having enuogh kms in his legs prior to this race.

I belive that if Wiggins or Dumoulin were able to win a GT, all the more is Remco at a certain point of his future career.

 

[Leinster]

He could easily recover to top shape but if he doesn't improve his bike handling and descending then he ain't going to win any Grand Tour. The engine will only compensate for his weaknesses to some extent. Once he regains his favorite status in GC then every other team know they just need to apply pressure on a descent and he'll ship bucket loads of time or crash out.

Agreed. The good news is, this is fixable.

It happened that Lefevere does not have the balls of Guimard, who didn't let Hinault ride a GT until he was 24.
I know that having the two most recent TDF winners in mind does not help, but still...

Manolo Saiz pulled Alex Zulle after 11 stages of his first TdF, aged 24, before they'd even reached any high mountains.

 

[Red Rick]

If there were 0 expectations then why did Almeida get called back like, including on the Zoncolan of all places.

 

[GuntherL1]

"I didn't have any expectations, only the media was dreaming". said a slightly irritated Evenepoel at the tourbus. "With 2 months of training you can't expect much".

Sorry. No. The first two weeks, he raced to be top in GC.
His comments on May 19: "It ain't over when it's over."

Almeida should be very pissed off when he reads this.

 

[Faserr]

If there were 0 expectations then why did Almeida get called back like, including on the Zoncolan of all places.

It makes really no sense. Perhaps they realised now that they should reduce the pressure.

 

[Bonimenier]

"I didn't have any expectations, only the media was dreaming". said a slightly irritated Evenepoel at the tourbus. "With 2 months of training you can't expect much".

Sorry. No. The first two weeks, he raced to be top in GC.
His comments on May 19: "It ain't over when it's over."

Almeida should be very pissed off when he reads this.

In my opinion Almeida should be mainly pissed at himself for having such an off-day that early in the Giro.

 

[Riek s]

him trying to battle GC doesn't mean he had expectations of actually winning GC. But yes his statement is a bit contradictory to what he and QS made appear.

But Almeida lost >5minutes in GC before he needed to help Remco. there was no indication that Almeida (and there is still none) would do top5 or podium if he hand't helped, not sure why you would put all the balls in almeida's camp when he fell through the moment it went uphill for the first time
The fact he made it to top10 now is because he helped and could go in the break. Otherwise he would have lost more than just a minute today. (seeing he wasn't really that good at all today).

 

[limak_]

In my opinion Almeida should be mainly pissed at himself for having such an off-day that early in the Giro.

Both reasons being equally valid imo. Almeida is probably at the moment the most pissed off person on Earth.

 

[Bonimenier]

Both reasons being equally valid imo. Almeida is probably at the moment the most pissed off person on Earth.

He shouldn't be. He got a top 10 today and is top 10 in GC now, so he is really extending his lead in the prestigious 'most top 10s without a win' competition.

 

[Faserr]

Both reasons being equally valid imo. Almeida is probably at the moment the most pissed off person on Earth.

Landa and Buchmann: Hold my beer

 

[Riek s]

him trying to battle GC doesn't mean he had expectations of actually winning GC. But yes his statement is a bit contradictory to what he and QS made appear.

But Almeida lost >5minutes in GC before he needed to help Remco. there was no indication that Almeida (and there is still none) would do top5 or podium if he hand't helped, not sure why you would put all the balls in almeida's camp when he fell through the moment it went uphill for the first time
The fact he made it to top10 now is because he helped and could go in the break. Otherwise he would have lost more than just a minute today. (seeing he wasn't really that good at all today).

To rectify, he might have been 9th if he didn't help Remco (looking at the time differences)