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

[Blanco]

Agreed, Liege suits him the best. But maybe he will win Lombardia before if he can handle the descents. Average level is lower in that race because it's fall/autumn race.

True, but this year it will be sky high level with Roglic, Pogacar, Alaphilippe, probably Van Aert, all present.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

He should ride a couple of the early year stage races to see where he's at. PN, Tirreno, Catalunya are still of higher quality than the likes of Algarve, Burgos or Pologne which he has won so far. If he does well then there's no reason not to go for GC in a GT - which one is hard to say, depends on ITT kilometers and other stuff.
Big mistake this season was to not race at all and then jump into Giro GC straight away.

Overall he definitely needs to work on his sprint/punch, it needs to be at least semi-believable, comparable to someone like Mas or Yates. It's a big problem for one day races if he doesn't drop everyone before but even in a GT like the Vuelta he'd lose just too many extra seconds on all the uphill finishes that would be avoidable.
Otherwise, absolute machine and an entertaining rider, not really bothered by his emotions.

 

[Salvarani]

I doubt he'll win more than two.

Perhaps, who knows. I was just speculating. Winning two monuments would still be very good over a career

But in terms of his abilities as a rider and with his engine. He already has one of the most important tools. Thats why I said, what I said.

LBL and Lombardia should be his best chances.

He could win from an attack on Poggio in MSR. Stranger things has happened.

The question is about the cobbles in Flanders and PR. He has won a lot of Belgium races already, but maybe not with a lot of cobbles (Im unaware over what roads and what type of races they all have been). If Im not mistaken he was doing really well in the PR espoirs race that he rode in 2018 but was struck with bad luck (?). Maybe someone remembers. Anyway he is only 21 and has the engine to win those races in future. Not to mention he can still improve a lot on other parts. Like having the best technique for riding on the cobbles also of course.

 

[Red Rick]

True, but this year it will be sky high level with Roglic, Pogacar, Alaphilippe, probably Van Aert, all present.

I doubt van Aert will be there, and Evenepoel is definitely on the best form curve of this lot right now, although realistically Pogacar should be much better by Lombardia and Lombardia should suit the climbers a lot more too.

 

[Netserk]

I doubt van Aert will be there, and Evenepoel is definitely on the best form curve of this lot right now, although realistically Pogacar should be much better by Lombardia and Lombardia should suit the climbers a lot more too.

Why shouldn't Van Aert be there? After Roubaix it's not like he needs to spare himself for any upcoming races, nor is one additional race going to affect his off season.

 

[Valanga]

So we went from "it will be hard for Remco to win any big one day race", to "he should be able to strive for five". Lovely.

 

[Valanga]

Why shouldn't Van Aert be there? After Roubaix it's not like he needs to spare himself for any upcoming races, nor is one additional race going to affect his off season.

I can see him taking a break, after a long season, and spend some time with his son before he starts preparing for CX ;-)

 

[Red Rick]

Why shouldn't Van Aert be there? After Roubaix it's not like he needs to spare himself for any upcoming races, nor is one additional race going to affect his off season.

Oh I thought it was before Lombardia for some reason.

Still I can see him not riding it cause cause despite it's status they sometimes just skip Lombardia cause tired.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

So we went from "it will be hard for Remco to win any big one day race", to "he should be able to strive for five". Lovely.

You'll find every possible career projection within this thread. It all began with the thread title.

 

[kingjr]

Uh this has Evenepoel being a minute ahead of Pogacar on top of Povo when he attacked just before they crested it?

I did my own time-taking to check, started from just after the big right-hander (not quite) at the bottom. These may be off about 2 seconds each.

Evenepoel's time on
French sprint-train lap: 6:10 (Pogacar 6:53)
second to last lap : 6:36
last lap: 6:10 again


Note: the French train lost quite a bit of time, compared to the last lap, when Madouas was in front, about 15 seconds or so.

 

[dutchdescent]

The 'he's young, he's got many years to win a GT' argument works, until it no longer works. Point is it's better to strike the iron while it's hot. There are other youngsters chomping at the bit that may become the next revelation. Time's ticking and the 'he's young' argument may give a false sense of security. That said, I believe he will never win a GT.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So what's next big goal for Remco? WC? Lombardia? Roubaix? Giro-Tour double?

 

[Bonimenier]

So what's next big goal for Remco? WC? Lombardia? Roubaix? Giro-Tour double?

WC TT I suppose

 

[Big Doopie]

In 2017, Roglic went stage hunting in the Tour.

I use the Roglic comparison here because there's a similarity: both come from another sport & both are/were "new" to cycling. He has to start somewhere so why not.

And Evenepoel has another important aspect: he's super young. So there's no rush. I'd choose winning a stage in the Tour (a hard memorable one, preferably, or even a TT) over flunking the GC in the Giro (as he did this year) any day everyday.

but you do know why he likely flunked the GC this year, right?

no one questioned why Landa generally held the wheels of the favorites in the first week of the Vuelta before getting dramatically worse.

Y can the detractors not see remco’s giro in similar light. Remco was coming back from a far worse injury, had less prep, no winter endurance work, and yet he did arguably much better than Landa did in the first week of a GT and then fell away just as Landa did…

he should go back to the Giro for GC (with correct prep). And apparently that is in-fact the plan.

 

[carolina]

So what's next big goal for Remco? WC? Lombardia? Roubaix? Giro-Tour double?

All of them?!

 

[Andre]

The sky is the limit. He can win everything at least once.

 

[Pirazziattacks]

Perhaps, who knows. I was just speculating. Winning two monuments would still be very good over a career

But in terms of his abilities as a rider and with his engine. He already has one of the most important tools. Thats why I said, what I said.

LBL and Lombardia should be his best chances.

He could win from an attack on Poggio in MSR. Stranger things has happened.

The question is about the cobbles in Flanders and PR. He has won a lot of Belgium races already, but maybe not with a lot of cobbles (Im unaware over what roads and what type of races they all have been). If Im not mistaken he was doing really well in the PR espoirs race that he rode in 2018 but was struck with bad luck (?). Maybe someone remembers. Anyway he is only 21 and has the engine to win those races in future. Not to mention he can still improve a lot on other parts. Like having the best technique for riding on the cobbles also of course.

Remco's engine doesn't make up for the fact that he's way too light for a race like PR and probably lacks the capacity to gain enough muscle to make up for it without drastically changing his riding style. ~75kg is basically the minimum weight needed to podium there, Langeveld might be the only exception in the last decade.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco's engine doesn't make up for the fact that he's way too light for a race like PR and probably lacks the capacity to gain enough muscle to make up for it without drastically changing his riding style. ~75kg is basically the minimum weight needed to podium there, Langeveld might be the only exception in the last decade.

Pidcock is about the same weight, even a bit lighter, and he won PR as an U23 also against guys 15kgs heavier. So i'm not yet convinced it's impossible for lighter riders.

 

[Salvarani]

Remco's engine doesn't make up for the fact that he's way too light for a race like PR and probably lacks the capacity to gain enough muscle to make up for it without drastically changing his riding style. ~75kg is basically the minimum weight needed to podium there, Langeveld might be the only exception in the last decade.

Remco is the exception to the rule though. Since we have not seen anything like him. We dont really know what he could win and achieve in the future, or if he will stagnate over time.

He "only" has to get it right once to complete all the monuments. If we keep playing with the idea of what I orginially said.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Yeah, they really need to send him to Liege next year, with Ala following wheels behind he can win solo.
Next year I'd send him to many WT/high level one week stage races in the early season + the Ardennes classics.
I'd consider to have him ride the Vuelta for gc and no other gt, but he's Lefevre's new cashcow who helped him to get a long term sponsor, so I expect them to send him to another gt and hype him to the moon as a gc rider before the start of the race...
I'd go for something like UAE-Tirreno-Pais Vasco-Ardennes-Dauphine-a break-Poland or Burgos and then the Vuelta.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, they really need to send him to Liege next year, with Ala following wheels behind he can win solo.
Next year I'd send him to many WT/high level one week stage races in the early season + the Ardennes classics.
I'd consider to have him ride the Vuelta for gc and no other gt, but he's Lefevre's new cashcow who helped him to get a long term sponsor, so I expect them to send him to another gt and hype him to the moon as a gc rider before the start of the race...
I'd go for something like UAE-Tirreno-Pais Vasco-Ardennes-Dauphine-a break-Poland or Burgos and then the Vuelta.

Didn't they already say he'll go to the Giro next year?

 

[Mayomaniac]

Didn't they already say he'll go to the Giro next year?

If they have him skip the Ardennes classics because of the Giro they can't be helped...

 

[Valv.Piti]

For Roubaix yes. I don't think he's too light for De Ronde per se. I think the question would be how much the cobbles in Vlaanderen would wear him down or if he just has to close too many gaps because he can't follow on those hills?

I think he's more likely to win Vlaanderen than Sanremo, although it's pretty likely he'll never contest Vlaanderen in his career.

I would be surprised if he didnt contest Flandern at some point given his young age, being Belgian and being pretty all round (save the technical aspects)

Anyways I just love watching this kid race. He did the only thing to do that last climb, but Colbrelli is simply in monster shape. He races just like we like to watch riders race, always on the attack, which obviously is helped by his non-exsistent sprint and extreme horse power.. should be a great rider to watch the next 10 years simply just for the huge entertainment value and the amount of races that will blow up so much sooner. Im especially looking at a race like Liege here.

 

[Rackham]

but you do know why he likely flunked the GC this year, right?

no one questioned why Landa generally held the wheels of the favorites in the first week of the Vuelta before getting dramatically worse.

I'm the wrong person to have a chat about Landa, i.e. for me he's one of the most overrated GC riders of the past half decade. He's neither physically nor mentally a real GC contender & whenever he might have seemed close (mostly in the minds of his fans) it was "because reasons" but it never happened because he's just not good enough. So watching him crack (even in the first week) of the Vuelta was no surprise & after that I just didn't care (& his attitude afterwards in week 3 i.e. quitting on the Lagos de Covadonga stage after he had attacked earlier just reconfirmed everything I already knew about the guy).

Evenepoel meanwhile is a bit more interesting. And honestly I'd say his most encouraging performance in the Giro this year was the Zoncolan stage where he 'only' lost a minute and a half against Bernal on super steep gradients.

That says there's some aptitude to get over the nastiest climbs in a GT & he can work on improving that. But he's not there yet (& he has no punch either which is totally detrimental when facing riders like Pogacar & Roglic).

 

[Valv.Piti]

No punch can definitely be detrimental. but thats the Remco-strategy: Try to not let explosivity and punch decide races. Thats literally the only gameplan he has which means murdering those riders from far out is the only legitimate strategy!