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

[Andre]

I like celebrations. Keep celebrating Remco.

 

[peterfin]

Sam Bennett and Almeida will tell you what a good manager he was for them…

I am pretty sure that Almeida's overall verdict of Lefevre is positive and that Sam knows what he gained from driving for DQS.

 

[Bonimenier]

Good to see that Zoef and Tinneke are making sure that this stays the most toxic topic on the forums.

 

[Volderke]

I wonder…
Neilson Powless told the press that he avoided crashing in San Sebastián by looking at the map on the screen of his cycling computer.
I feel Remco’s latest crash (and a few other crashes in the peloton) could be avoided, if riders without too much knowledge of how the next curve is going, would have the routemap on their computer in descends, instead of their power / heart rate / whatever.

 

[Red Rick]

A combination of not being in top condition yet and not having raced since the Belgian championship was probably the reason for his underperforming at the olympic games. He's not at his peak level yet, but soon he will probably do the same as in Denmark, but against top riders. In that sort of short stage races and hilly one-day races. Whether he can compete for the podium in a grand tour, we will only see next season .

It's so hard to do this vs top hilly riders though. He's never gapping van Aert or VdP for example, even if he could theoretically stay away from them 1v1 or vs an uncooperating group. And on harder classics the hills get harder so it's harder to get away with attacking on the flat sections.

 

[Wvv]

I wonder…
Neilson Powless told the press that he avoided crashing in San Sebastián by looking at the map on the screen of his cycling computer.
I feel Remco’s latest crash (and a few other crashes in the peloton) could be avoided, if riders without too much knowledge of how the next curve is going, would have the routemap on their computer in descends, instead of their power / heart rate / whatever.

I'm a decent recreational cyclist myself, and I use the route map on my bike computer as well for unknown areas, certainly downhills.
But believe me: under pressure, at full race speed, it's hard to keep on eye on the road and others and meanwhile have a look at that computer.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm a decent recreational cyclist myself, and I use the route map on my bike computer as well for unknown areas, certainly downhills.
But believe me: under pressure, at full race speed, it's hard to keep on eye on the road and others and meanwhile have a look at that computer.

On some descends the DS can simply coach which curves go where, but it's not always realistic.

Didn't Eveneoel nearly crash when already on the circuit?

 

[Volderke]

I'm a decent recreational cyclist myself, and I use the route map on my bike computer as well for unknown areas, certainly downhills.
But believe me: under pressure, at full race speed, it's hard to keep on eye on the road and others and meanwhile have a look at that computer.

I know it’s not something you can look at the whole time, but Powless used it to his advantage. I think it’s not useful for a very curvy descend, but it should be useful for long fast stretches where you can have a quick look in order to assess your braking and ideal line for the next (potentially blind) curve.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

What a stupid and mean comment !
Step by step Evenepoel returns to his old level. First, by winning small stage races. This will probably be the second victory in a small stage race since the disappointing Giro. He will have won four or five victories by saturday. A lot better than most superstars this season.
I am convinced that in 2022 he will return to the level of 2020. He will have lost a year, also in his development. But in the long run, this doesn't have to be a negative.

Did you even read my post? I said I was kidding. I was just making fun of the whole Evenepoel debate. I'm a big fan of Evenepoel and love watching him race.

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm late, but a few things:

a) Autism is not a personality disorder.
b) I think Evenepoel is far from being on the autism spectrum and I have no idea what hints there are for that.
c) I think he's just a bit narcisstic, not too badly, but above average, and people around him are not treating him in a way that could make him nicer.
d) I feel torn between "I really don't like him" and pity.
e) He very probably doesn't need my pity.
f) I'm convinced he's going to be very fine climbingwise; he just desperately needs to become a better bike-handler, because otherwise he will have a career ruined by crashes.

 

[BlueRoads]

On another note, I think that recommendation of Powless is weird. So it worked out well for him and of course you should take a look at the map now and then to know what's coming, but if you are descending in a corner, are you really telling me it's best to look at the map?! I'm sure having your eyes on the street and ahead is best.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

Good to see that Zoef and Tinneke are making sure that this stays the most toxic topic on the forums.

What's wrong with well-argued criticism ? And I don't read arguments at all in your reaction. And that is just toxic.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

It's so hard to do this vs top hilly riders though. He's never gapping van Aert or VdP for example, even if he could theoretically stay away from them 1v1 or vs an uncooperating group. And on harder classics the hills get harder so it's harder to get away with attacking on the flat sections.

We'll see. Gapping Van Aert or Vdp on cobbled hills as in Flanders, of course not. On longer hills (San Sebastian, Lombardia, even in L-B-L, Tirreno and other short stage races) an Evenepoel in form will distroy both riders in the future. As he did with Fughlsang, Carapaz etc. in Poland last year. I think we'll see the first duels with Van Aert, Van der poel, Pogacar next year. Not sure who gona winn those duels. But from 2023 Evenepoel will be the strongest in that sort of races. In contrary, in grand tours, I guess Evenepoel will be defeated by Pogacar, Bernal, Carapaz, Pidcock..... Because Evenepoel is not a top climber. But more an allrounder.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I'm late, but a few things:

a) Autism is not a personality disorder.
b) I think Evenepoel is far from being on the autism spectrum and I have no idea what hints there are for that.
c) I think he's just a bit narcisstic, not too badly, but above average, and people around him are not treating him in a way that could make him nicer.
d) I feel torn between "I really don't like him" and pity.
e) He very probably doesn't need my pity.
f) I'm convinced he's going to be very fine climbingwise; he just desperately needs to become a better bike-handler, because otherwise he will have a career ruined by crashes.

I agree. A good analysis.

 

[Big Doopie]

We'll see. Gapping Van Aert or Vdp on cobbled hills as in Flanders, of course not. On longer hills (San Sebastian, Lombardia, even in L-B-L, Tirreno and other short stage races) an Evenepoel in form will distroy both riders in the future. As he did with Fughlsang, Carapaz etc. in Poland last year. I think we'll see the first duels with Van Aert, Van der poel, Pogacar next year. Not sure who gona winn those duels. But from 2023 Evenepoel will be the strongest in that sort of races. In contrary, in grand tours, I guess Evenepoel will be defeated by Pogacar, Bernal, Carapaz, Pidcock..... Because Evenepoel is not a top climber. But more an allrounder.

He already dropped VDP last year in Lombardy.

Arguably he was looking the strongest/easiest in a front group made up of stars.

He had just destroyed the guy who eventually won.

Descending is absolutely part of racing and remco lost that day.

However, no one can convince me that he was not the strongest rider that day.

Despite what Lefevre says, I do not believe he is back to that form yet. Happy for his stage win in Denmark but that is not on level with what he was doing pre-crash. I think the Olympics demonstrate that. Hoping that this indicates an uptick in the road to full recovery.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

We'll see. Gapping Van Aert or Vdp on cobbled hills as in Flanders, of course not. On longer hills (San Sebastian, Lombardia, even in L-B-L, Tirreno and other short stage races) an Evenepoel in form will distroy both riders in the future. As he did with Fughlsang, Carapaz etc. in Poland last year. I think we'll see the first duels with Van Aert, Van der poel, Pogacar next year. Not sure who gona winn those duels. But from 2023 Evenepoel will be the strongest in that sort of races. In contrary, in grand tours, I guess Evenepoel will be defeated by Pogacar, Bernal, Carapaz, Pidcock..... Because Evenepoel is not a top climber. But more an allrounder.

An allrounder unless the route has descents, grind roads or needs steering qualities…

You are very optimistic about him winning duels with those big names.…beating Carapaz in Poland hardly says a lot as that is not a race Carapaz even targets…

But I do hope Evenepoel manages to work on his steering and descending skills in the coming years and does not get overconfident again thinking he is back on track. He could become one of the big names but he still is far from being there and def from beating them.

 

[tobydawq]

That's already his 6th overall win in a 2.Pro race. Curiously, the only current pro who has more (if we count the old 2.HC races) is Jakob Fuglsang with 7. Three of those being the Tour of Denmark.

 

[Velolover2]

Promising perfomance for Worlds, classics and shorter stage races. But let's be honest, it tells you absolutely nothing about his shape for the real mountains.

Imagine riding Alpe D'Huez for 1 km. That's the feeling you get from riding the tougher 7-8%+ climbs like Østen and Højen.

 

[Big Doopie]

But let's be honest, it tells you absolutely nothing about his shape for the real mountains.

And exactly…no one was implying that it did.

sometimes those who complain about the overhyping are themselves at fault.

just saying.

 

[Sciatic]

We'll see. Gapping Van Aert or Vdp on cobbled hills as in Flanders, of course not. On longer hills (San Sebastian, Lombardia, even in L-B-L, Tirreno and other short stage races) an Evenepoel in form will distroy both riders in the future. As he did with Fughlsang, Carapaz etc. in Poland last year. I think we'll see the first duels with Van Aert, Van der poel, Pogacar next year. Not sure who gona winn those duels. But from 2023 Evenepoel will be the strongest in that sort of races. In contrary, in grand tours, I guess Evenepoel will be defeated by Pogacar, Bernal, Carapaz, Pidcock..... Because Evenepoel is not a top climber. But more an allrounder.

He’s riding Lombardia this fall, yes? That will be a good test of how well he can do in “those sort of races” even if he isn’t back to Pre-crash form.

 

[hayneplane]

An allrounder unless the route has descents, grind roads or needs steering qualities…

You are very optimistic about him winning duels with those big names.…beating Carapaz in Poland hardly says a lot as that is not a race Carapaz even targets…

But I do hope Evenepoel manages to work on his steering and descending skills in the coming years and does not get overconfident again thinking he is back on track. He could become one of the big names but he still is far from being there and def from beating them.

Remco was aiming to peak to win the Giro so it’s not like Poland was a main season goal for him either. Granted I would suggest he was more up for the win than Carapaz but not hugely so.

 

[Volderke]

On another note, I think that recommendation of Powless is weird. So it worked out well for him and of course you should take a look at the map now and then to know what's coming, but if you are descending in a corner, are you really telling me it's best to look at the map?! I'm sure having your eyes on the street and ahead is best.

You clearly missed the “long straight before a blind corner” part. And the “probably not wise to do on a curvy descend”.
I do it a lot while driving (eg in the Ardennes), to know what corners I can take with speed and what corners I should brake. It doesn’t take more than a split second to see what’s coming up. And I think that’s wiser than going straight out of a curve like Mohoric / Evenepoel did. Eyes in the street have proved to be a useless concept in blind corners, as you cannot know how much a corner will turn. If you know beforehand, you have both less risk crashing, and an advantage to take a corner faster than those taking it “blind”.

 

[Lequack]

Are those two really that tall? They look like basketball players next to him.

 

[Bonimenier]

Are those two really that tall? They look like basketball players next to him.

Not as ridiculous as the EC ITT 2 years ago. Affini and Asgreen are probably about 10 cm taller than Pedersen and Teunissen.

 

[Blanco]

He already dropped VDP last year in Lombardy.

Arguably he was looking the strongest/easiest in a front group made up of stars.

What stars? Aging Nibali was only star there, and he was working for his teammates...