A satisfactory season would be:
I expect a big, one day win somewhere, maybe winning TdS given there will be no Pog and Rog in attendance, top 5 in La Vuelta with a stage win. The realistic goal for the Vuelta if he arrives there with good preparation and shape should be to lose only to the Slovenian superstars and Carapaz. I don't see anyone else with his potential if ready to go.
- World tour stage race podium
- 2 minor stage race GCs
- win any one day race
- Top 10 in a monument
- Top 10 Vuelta
You haven't seen "any sort" of the consistency you need to land a big result in a GT? Winning 1 week races back to back with less than a week in between, and being inside the top 10 of the Giro for over two weeks isn't "any sort" of consistency? When you say Haig and O'Connor are "more favorite" than him, does that also mean you would put your money on them winning a GT rather than him? Assuming Roglic and Pogacar both do the Vuelta with something akin to full form (considering they rode the Tour), and you had to pick one person that could possibly beat them, would you pick Haig and O'Connor before Evenepoel? Or by "more favorite" do you mean to finish inside the top 10?He has the potential, but we haven't seen any sort of the consistency you need to land a big result in a GT - so I think that there's still a bunch of guys between him and the Slovenians. It doesn't mean that I don't think that he can land a big result in the Vuelta, but for me, Almeida, Haig, Mas, and O'Connor are all more "favorite" than him on a GT*
*These are just names from the current PCS startlist.
Why exactly isn't it realistic that he "could"? You are making a huge deal about finishing a GT first. So because he only did 18 days in the Giro out of 21 (with one of those remaining days being a TT), it's impossible, even if he was in the top 10 for 15 of those 18 days? Mas finished 2nd in the Vuelta after finishing 77th in his first. I doubt Mas put his body through more stress his first year. Pogacar finished on the podium on his first try. Andy Schleck did it as well. Gesink, Almeida and plenty of others finished well inside the top 10, that with a different scenario, more could have been possible. So because Evenepoel didn't get to softpedal two more stages and do a 30 minute effort in a TT, last May, that means there now is no chance in hell he could finish on the podium. Legit.I don't see it realistic that he could straight hit the podium in GC. Stage(s) yes, but gc podium is just unkown as three weeks is something different and his year to year racing base (amount of racing days/stage racing days) is somewhat thin still. Same goal as earlier, most important is to finish complete GT first to get three week stress inside his body. Failed 2021, probably because team and himself set wrong targets. Team should not let him climb off from the race. He would have been magnitudes more challenger for any GT this season if he had that Giro in his body. No shortcuts. After all it's 'normal' that (shortish) training season between racing seasons go fine, these people have big pro team staff built around for that purpose, to make that happen. Accumulation of racing days and amount of GT*s is the real evolution tool.
Personally and if he stays healthy:
- riding the final in LBL: so presumably top 15 finish
- top 5 in Brabantse Pijl
- top 3 GC in one of the bigger one week races (Tirreno or Suisse)
- win at least one of the smaller races (Norway, Algarve, Burgos, ...)
- Top 5 GC in Vuelta or if he doesn't go for GC stagewins and perhaps mountain jersey
or is this to steep?
Remind us which stage races those guys have won. Only Mas has a GT podium from that list so I would respect those riders but not place them ahead of Remco in the most likely to podium stakes.He has the potential, but we haven't seen any sort of the consistency you need to land a big result in a GT - so I think that there's still a bunch of guys between him and the Slovenians. It doesn't mean that I don't think that he can land a big result in the Vuelta, but for me, Almeida, Haig, Mas, and O'Connor are all more "favorite" than him on a GT*
*These are just names from the current PCS startlist.
It seems to me that a 6th place in the Vuelta would disappoint your revealed expectations.You haven't seen "any sort" of the consistency you need to land a big result in a GT? Winning 1 week races back to back with less than a week in between, and being inside the top 10 of the Giro for over two weeks isn't "any sort" of consistency? When you say Haig and O'Connor are "more favorite" than him, does that also mean you would put your money on them winning a GT rather than him? Assuming Roglic and Pogacar both do the Vuelta with something akin to full form (considering they rode the Tour), and you had to pick one person that could possibly beat them, would you pick Haig and O'Connor before Evenepoel? Or by "more favorite" do you mean to finish inside the top 10?
Why exactly isn't it realistic that he "could"? You are making a huge deal about finishing a GT first. So because he only did 18 days in the Giro out of 21 (with one of those remaining days being a TT), it's impossible, even if he was in the top 10 for 15 of those 18 days? Mas finished 2nd in the Vuelta after finishing 77th in his first. I doubt Mas put his body through more stress his first year. Pogacar finished on the podium on his first try. Andy Schleck did it as well. Gesink, Almeida and plenty of others finished well inside the top 10, that with a different scenario, more could have been possible. So because Evenepoel didn't get to softpedal two more stages and do a 30 minute effort in a TT, last May, that means there now is no chance in hell he could finish on the podium. Legit.
Reminder: Almeida won Poland and Luxembourg, Mas won Guangxi, O'Connor won a stage race in New Zealand and Mas won a stage race in France ahead of a GT winner and one in Portugal.Remind us which stage races those guys have won. Only Mas has a GT podium from that list so I would respect those riders but not place them ahead of Remco in the most likely to podium stakes.
Winning against Geoghegan Hart and Hindley generally is easier than winning against Pogacar and Roglic.Given that several here thought he could win the Giro in 2020 if not for his crash, wouldn’t you expect him two years later to be stronger in the upcoming Vuelta? What do your expectations about the Vuelta imply for the contra factual 2020?
Roglic with a full Tour in his legs (like in 2020) is hardly unbeatable, and the numbers don’t lie: the level was high in that Giro.Winning against Geoghegan Hart and Hindley generally is easier than winning against Pogacar and Roglic.
He can have 5 full Tours in the legs, and I'd still pick him.Roglic with a full Tour in his legs (like in 2020) is hardly unbeatable, and the numbers don’t lie: the level was high in that Giro.
I don't think Evenepoel gave up in the Giro because he couldn't ride a podium anymore. But because he went under mentally and physically. Riding further did not seem responsible to me. And might have jeopardized the rest of the season, or even his career.I don't see it realistic that he could straight hit the podium in GC. Stage(s) yes, but gc podium is just unkown as three weeks is something different and his year to year racing base (amount of racing days/stage racing days) is somewhat thin still. Same goal as earlier, most important is to finish complete GT first to get three week stress inside his body. Failed 2021, probably because team and himself set wrong targets. Team should not let him climb off from the race. He would have been magnitudes more challenger for any GT this season if he had that Giro in his body. No shortcuts. After all it's 'normal' that (shortish) training season between racing seasons go fine, these people have big pro team staff built around for that purpose, to make that happen. Accumulation of racing days and amount of GT*s is the real evolution tool.
It seems to me you might have difficulty understanding the difference between what one might expect, hope, be disappointed with, or deem possible?It seems to me that a 6th place in the Vuelta would disappoint your revealed expectations.
Disappointment is a matter of degree. If something is lower (or whatever relevant metric) than one's expectations, it's disappointing. Maybe only a little, maybe a lot.It seems to me you might have difficulty understanding the difference between what one might expect, hope, be disappointed with, or deem possible?
This is a coherent view that makes good sense and that couples medium term and long term expectations.If he does have the physical attributes to become a future GT winner, he should easily be in the podium contention in the Vuelta barring any stupid mistakes or accidents. Given the overall level he has shown both before and after his injury and with proper preseason as well as experience from couple of the biggest one-week stage races under his belt by the time Vuelta comes around and last but not least the fact he is specifically targeting the Vuelta, while most other contenders come off the back of the Tour or try to build a new peak after the Giro, Remco really should not be languishing somewhere low down the top 10 or worse if he does indeed have the knack for GT-s.