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

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There was take about him doing the Vuelta as well this year. I think they've taken that option off the table, which could explain them wanting him to do the Giro again first.

So, no Vuelta.

Juli 24th & 28th: Olympics
August 24th: Druivenkoers Overijse
September 9th: Euro champs ITT
September 25th: World champs ITT
October 9th: Il Lombardia

I assume he will also ride the World championships RR, but he needs to wait for a selection first. I think Druivenkoers in Overijse will be some sort of test case.
 
No San Sebastian? He's the defending winner (Okay, it's pretty soon after the OGTT, so it makes sense).
Hardly surprising as it’s only 3 days after the Olympics TT race.

The San Seb field will likely be weaker than usual with many of those still backing up from the Olympics heavily jet lagged and unable to be in the condition to fight for victory.

Expect the likes of Bardet and Alaphillipe who are both skipping Tokyo to be big contenders.
 
He would be better off riding the Binck Banck Tour to make claims for selection in the Worlds.
Not at all. The reason why it's significant, is that the Druivenkoers is held in Overijse... which is where the WCC will pass through for the hardest part of the course. I don't think his form will be in question. The Olympics will show if he's "back" or not, but the Druivenkoers will show if the course suits him. He had his doubts about that, but honestly, i think it fits him to a T. It's a lot of up and down, similar to Brabantse Pijl which is also in/around Overijse.
 
Hardly surprising as it’s only 3 days after the Olympics TT race.

The San Seb field will likely be weaker than usual with many of those still backing up from the Olympics heavily jet lagged and unable to be in the condition to fight for victory.

Expect the likes of Bardet and Alaphillipe who are both skipping Tokyo to be big contenders.
Maybe Ayuso can make his mark against a "b-field" (this was also said when Evenepoel won it).
 
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Not at all. The reason why it's significant, is that the Druivenkoers is held in Overijse... which is where the WCC will pass through for the hardest part of the course. I don't think his form will be in question. The Olympics will show if he's "back" or not, but the Druivenkoers will show if the course suits him. He had his doubts about that, but honestly, i think it fits him to a T. It's a lot of up and down, similar to Brabantse Pijl which is also in/around Overijse.

Could he not do both ? Think he could nearly win the GC at the Binck Bank tour.
 
Could he not do both ? Think he could nearly win the GC at the Binck Bank tour.
It's been reported now that he'll do the BinckBank Tour (to be renamed "BeNeLux Tour") as well.

BeneluxTourl_16x9_63D9E4C026280EBBC125870D00443720.jpg
 
..in today's news...“I even think that Wout has an edge, as I saw him driving up the Mont Ventoux. He's perfectly fine,” Evenepoel said in comments reported by Dutch website Wielerflits. “If we go to the finish with a select leading group in the road race and there are still two of us there, I will definitely put on the sprint for Wout.
 
..in today's news...“I even think that Wout has an edge, as I saw him driving up the Mont Ventoux. He's perfectly fine,” Evenepoel said in comments reported by Dutch website Wielerflits. “If we go to the finish with a select leading group in the road race and there are still two of us there, I will definitely put on the sprint for Wout.

In other news: water is apparently wet.
 
Disappointing Olympic RR for Evenepoel. I don't know if it was a lack of race fitness, the heat, or what, but I thought he would last longer than Mauri and Benoot on Mikuni.

This year has been difficult year thus far.

Struggling in the Giro
Losing the Belgian ITT to Yves.
Lackluster Olympic RR.

Doesn't seem to bode well for the Olympic ITT.
 
It was a disappointing effort, especially on the Mikuni Pass.
Maybe he didn't try hard, which would be unlike the teamplayer he claims to be.
The TT will tell us more about his form, but I feel like he's still way off his pre-crash level. The national TT showed that clearly.
There's no way he would have lost to Lampaert by 20 seconds before his crash.
It's obvious that TdF participation was a big plus today, but Schachmann was a good contender, so it isn't much of an excuse.
 
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It was a disappointing effort, especially on the Mikuni Pass.
Maybe he didn't try hard, which would be unlike the teamplayer he claims to be.
The TT will tell us more about his form, but I feel like he's still way off his pre-crash level. The national TT showed that clearly.
There's no way he would have lost to Lampaert by 20 seconds before his crash.
It's obvious that TdF participation was a big plus today, but Schachmann was a good contender, so it isn't much of an excuse.
Lampaert went very fast, IMO. Of course Evenepoel's pre-crash TT-level was higher, but still, it's a bit too easily dismissed as a mediocre performance.
 
It was a disappointing effort, especially on the Mikuni Pass.
Maybe he didn't try hard, which would be unlike the teamplayer he claims to be.
The TT will tell us more about his form, but I feel like he's still way off his pre-crash level. The national TT showed that clearly.
There's no way he would have lost to Lampaert by 20 seconds before his crash.
It's obvious that TdF participation was a big plus today, but Schachmann was a good contender, so it isn't much of an excuse.
He said he let go as soon as he found out the pace was too high, which irks me a bit considering you never know what could happen in the front group. Looks like he didn't even try, which is imho damning. Had he tried (and succeeded) he could have helped Wout a lot. Or maybe he felt it was really "over" but that doesn't fall in line with his statements saying his legs felt good.

On the other hand, look at where other big names finished. Roglic, Sivakov, Martin, Bennett, Caruso not that much better. Kelderman, Nibali, Valverde, Dumoulin, Porte in the same group. Higuita, Vlasov, Foss even further back. Vlasov and Foss also rode the Giro and were the revelations in GC.

He lost the ITT from Yves because he wasn't 100% yet. Because Yves was in great shape. Because Yves was riding in his hometown, knowing every corner by heart and getting cheered on by the locals. Because the course was rather technical with a lot of twists and turns, with short straights and many short climbs (bridges), where acceleration/punch mattered a lot, which we know is not his forte. Only by gaining a fraction of a second in every corner, Yves would have won this by a clear margin. He finished 40s ahead of Van Wilder who had finished his latest WT ITT's very strong. That gap seems "about right" considering their past results.
 
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