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

[Bonimenier]

That's rather generous. Startlist quality as per PCS

Tour de France: 1585
Olympics road race: 1202
Vuelta: 1011
Tour of Poland: 408
Tour of Denmark: 203

GT
WT stage race
. Pro stage race

3rd tier seems about right.

 

[Netserk]

. Pro stage race

In name only.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Yup the camera crew is there anyway. ..Special episode on Belgian tv next week: Remco wins monumental cycling race, he is officially better than Eddy Merckx

(his win was breaking news on belgian news apps)

But my comment goes further than just a win. I sincerely think it would do Remco immensely good to just be away from the press and all of that. Around people that not kiss the ground he walks on.

Because now expectations are again all high up again.…

Is he still living in Belgium? If he is, he probably shouldn’t be. Ordinarily I think a very young rider probably benefits from being close to family, friends etc but he’s never going to be able to disentangle himself from celebrity life there.

 

[peterfin]

Because now expectations are again all high up again.…

Expectations are high up since he started destroying the competition at the juniors. He likes it. It's his comfort zone. I don't think it has an impact on his results besides maybe the danger of taking short cuts in his progression. On the other hand, these failures give him clear and quick feedback on what needs to improve.
If he can deal with the failures mentally and learn from it, he can only win by setting high expectations for himself. This is a quality that basically all greats in sports and business have.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Bit surprised at the celebration tbh as one doesn't have to be a student of cycling history to know that will forever be associated with Mohoric.

Anyway, great performance today!

 

[Andre]

Good ride Remco!!!

 

[Nick2413]

How much of the hype for Remco is because of being Belgian vs being so dominant as a youth? Seems there are a lot of dominant young guns these days but none are anywhere close to his level of revery including TP and co.

 

[Panda Claws]

Meh the Belgian discussion once again.

I agree that the celebrations are super cringe though.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So Remco is back. He would have won the Tour had he participated. Rumour has it tha Pog&Rog visited him some time ago and asked for one more chance in 2022. Thus the Giro in his programme. What a generous young man!

 

[tobydawq]

This is the most annoying thread ever.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

This is the most annoying thread ever.

Couldn't agree more but I keep coming back to it for the entertainment.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

Is he still living in Belgium? If he is, he probably shouldn’t be. Ordinarily I think a very young rider probably benefits from being close to family, friends etc but he’s never going to be able to disentangle himself from celebrity life there.

He tried living in Monaco when he became pro, but was soon back at home with mum and dad.

Ok he was very young then, but I think now could be a better time to try. People/media have a Remco obsession here. Everything little thing he does makes the news.

I think he is a great talent but his attitude is not amazing. And Lefevre won't help much with that I am sure.

If Remco understands he still has a lot to learn and learn some humbleness, he could really become a legend. He has the talent.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

How much of the hype for Remco is because of being Belgian vs being so dominant as a youth? Seems there are a lot of dominant young guns these days but none are anywhere close to his level of revery including TP and co.

I think his dominance made a lot of impression, but I also think he and his entourage encouraged the whole hype.

He was immediately called to be a Grand Tour winner. Which he has the talent for, but we all know that being dominant in juniors does not always means you will win GT's as an pro.

I think his entourage should def have protected him more. All these tv documentaries are not necessary. It is not necessary for camera crews to follow him to the airport, on his first training ride back etc.

He took the football attitude with him when he started cycling and cycling is just a whole different world.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

Expectations are high up since he started destroying the competition at the juniors. He likes it. It's his comfort zone. I don't think it has an impact on his results besides maybe the danger of taking short cuts in his progression. On the other hand, these failures give him clear and quick feedback on what needs to improve.
If he can deal with the failures mentally and learn from it, he can only win by setting high expectations for himself. This is a quality that basically all greats in sports and business have.

True. But is he truly learning from his mistakes at the moment?

He again made a mistake on the descent (which was not bad) and he is still winning with his trademark attack/solo ride.

Sure it is ok to have high expectations from himself, but it indeed makes him take shortcuts. He is not working on what should be worked on in my opinion, better bike handling skills for example.

He clearly lacks strength at the moment to play a role with the big names. He gets a bit humble. He then goes to a race with a relative weak field where he can be dominant again, and woop the arrogant attitude shows up again.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

I agree that the celebrations are super cringe though.

I would like to hear Logic's take. He thinks Evenepoel may be on the spectrum. If so, he may not realize how it comes off.

My dad was over from Belgium and I told him Remco was in front. I didn't think much of it because it was expected, but he was like, nah, this is gonna be good. So we all went inside and switched on the TV. And burst out laughing when Remco did his victory salute. We knew something like that was coming.

Evenepoel's cocky but socially awkward celebrations are seriously meme-worthy. You know he thinks he's creative with it, too.

 

[LucVdB]

It seems a lot of people will only be happy with a supertalent who's also devoid of all personality and drive. Humble, meek even, and showing no emotion. Maybe he should also be an eager reader of internet forums, to find true wisdom.

 

[SafeBet]

Maybe he should also be an eager reader of internet forums, to find true wisdom.

What do you mean maybe?
I always assumed they all read this forum to gain valuable insights on racing.

 

[Red Rick]

What do you mean maybe?
I always assumed they all read this forum to gain valuable insights on racing.

Not all but Movistar certaintly do

Also every WT rider gets a push message when I categorically state they can't win so they just know it's their time to win.

 

[BlueRoads]

What do you mean maybe?
I always assumed they all read this forum to gain valuable insights on racing.

And on victory celebrations.

 

[Salvarani]

It seems a lot of people will only be happy with a supertalent who's also devoid of all personality and drive. Humble, meek even, and showing no emotion. Maybe he should also be an eager reader of internet forums, to find true wisdom.

No one is perfect.

No problem with having charisma and personality, if that is who you truly are.

On the other hand being arrogant, stupid and foolish about things usually only becomes bad for that person in the end. You might become a character of yourself that maybe is not true with the reality, and something that can be quite hard to live up to over time.

Im not saying thats the case here, just playing devils advocate. Most want Remco do keep showing his great talent, but it is just a lot around him going on thats not entirely about cycling. It can easily get too much. Would not be the first time someone crash and burn. I think thats why it can be important to stay grounded, humble and have a good support system around him. I hope he has that.

Anyway.

 

[yaco]

Posted last month, that Remco could be an invaluable ally at the World's = He's trending in the right direction.

 

[noob]

Editing out my post for neurotypical peace of mind. ❤️

 

[dutchdescent]

I think RE will never be a multiple GT winner. Heard it here first.
Nothing against him tbc. Just cannot support the hype. He will not live up to it.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

It seems a lot of people will only be happy with a supertalent who's also devoid of all personality and drive. Humble, meek even, and showing no emotion. Maybe he should also be an eager reader of internet forums, to find true wisdom.

Because humbleness and respectfulness are values that people also regard highly in their day to day lives.

Champions can be driven and confident, but I think no one will disagree that Remco is very arrogant at times.

He is 21, so I understand he is not perfect, but I think it is important for him to get people around him that can ground him a bit.

Otherwise I think he will continue to go from highs (in less hard races) to lows in harder races. That would make it interesting to watch, but also a waste of talent.

Plus I think he sooner or later will make "enemies" in the peloton the way he is going. People will just go out of their way just to make it hard for him.

 

[Red Rick]

Damn I was thinking I was a prominent figure in the hate brigade but I just can't keep up when we're starting to do armchair diagnoses of autism spectrum conditions