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

[Bonimenier]

Can he still make up the seconds to Vlasov in the next 2 stages?

No

 

[stonerider]

Ok, I'll say it...Remco isn't 3 week Grand Tour material.

 

[peterfin]

Can he still make up the seconds to Vlasov in the next 2 stages?

There is always a little chance, especially because of Remco's past long range attacks, but the team will probably focus on getting more stage wins for Jacobsen.

I do wonder how strong Bora is when QS puts them under pressure? Seeing Evenepoel and Lampaert escape for a duo time trial would be fun to watch

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

There is always a little chance, especially because of Remco's past long range attacks, but the team will probably focus on getting more stage wins for Jacobsen.

I do wonder how strong Bora is when QS puts them under pressure? Seeing Evenepoel and Lampaert escape for a duo time trial would be fun to watch

That wouldn't really work, Lampaert can't keep up that tempo for long enough,he's no De Gendt. He could however power away with Remco in his wheel and empty himself for maybe 5-10 minutes to get a gap and then let Remco go alone. They already tried that in the opening stage of Burgos 2020, but the DS had Remco sit up because he started slowly losing time. It's not impossible given the right circumstances, but with Evenepoel having trained more on muscle than endurance it seems, i'm not sure he has the form to pull off a Poland-esque raid atm either. I was already suspicious wednesday, seeing that he didn't ride further away from Vlasov on the 4 flat kilometers after the climb.

 

[Andre]

Ok, I'll say it...Remco isn't 3 week Grand Tour material.

ok...you said..but prepare to be wrong

 

[YavorD]

While it's really early in the season and any conclusions would be premature, there are few indications that he is not the top rider in a hard climbs.

Anyway, I think it would be great for cycling if he ends up being not the best but top ten climber. That would make him and QS try hard in the hillier terrains and in crosswind stages to make up for the lost time in the mountains. And we know that he and his team are capable of doing so.

 

[Bonimenier]

Tim Declercq a better GT prospect than Evenepoel confirmed

 

[houtdffan]

While it's really early in the season and any conclusions would be premature, there are few indications that he is not the top rider in a hard climbs.

Anyway, I think it would be great for cycling if he ends up being not the best but top ten climber. That would make him and QS try hard in the hillier terrains and in crosswind stages to make up for the lost time in the mountains. And we know that he and his team are capable of doing so.

He reminds me more of a Jan Ullrich climber. Can crush people on the more gradual gradients like Stage 1, but struggles on the very steep gradients

This could mean in the Vuelta he loses significant time on the super steep finishes, but can crush the competition on the more gradual climbs like Sierra Nevada

 

[KZD]

I can't see him fighting for the win at the Vuelta against Pogačar and Roglic after losing so much time on a climb like today. Still, it doesn't mean that he can't improve and get a good result already this year especially if Quick Step manages to get some time back in possible windy stages

 

[Jspear]

Let him do the Vuelta, win a few stages, get a top 10 GC under his belt, and then he can look towards the tour later. Maybe they’ll have 100km of TTing soon….

 

[jfazendeiro]

I wouldn't jump to conclusions about the climbs that favor him the most, let alone if he's a GT rider. We must remember that, before his accident, he won a stage in Picón Blanco and was third in Lagunas de Neila.

 

[Savant12]

Ok, I'll say it...Remco isn't 3 week Grand Tour material.

I'd say it's more a weakness in temperament than ability.

 

[HelloDolly]

He is not a climber but could win a GT if there were lots of rolling stages and TT miles

 

[Andre]

I liked when he took the lead with 3 klms to go.

 

[Blanco]

I liked when he took the lead with 3 klms to go.

Yeah, he wanted to show his opponents who's the boss...

 

[jflemaire]

Wasn't he overgeared at one point? For a moment I thought he's front derailleur must be stuck or something.

 

[rghysens]

I wouldn't jump to conclusions about the climbs that favor him the most, let alone if he's a GT rider. We must remember that, before his accident, he won a stage in Picón Blanco and was third in Lagunas de Neila.

Picon blanco was a flat stage with a mtf, with echelons during the flat part of the stage that exhausted the "real" climbers. Furthermore it was about the first race after the corona-lockdown, which was way more strictly imposed in Spain (and France) than it was in Belgium, resulting in many Spanish riders being not as good.
Look, I'm a bit of a Evenepoel fan, and at the moment of that Tour of Burgos, I was rather convinced that he would be a principal GT contender for years to come. But a more critical view of his results before and after changed my view on that. That, and the rise of Pogacar of course.
Look, Evenepoels main asset is him being very aerodynamic. That simply means you waste less energy overcoming wind resistance, and the faster you go, the more you gain from it. Or, the slower you go, the less you gain. That would also affect his abilities relative to others on longer, but regular, steepish climbs, where speed is low.
Can he win a GT? Yes, but all stars have to be aligned: enough tt, some hard hilly stages, not too much steep mountains, but that's not the way GT courses are going to the last couple of years.

 

[Open Horizon]

Picon blanco was a flat stage with a mtf, with echelons during the flat part of the stage that exhausted the "real" climbers. Furthermore it was about the first race after the corona-lockdown, which was way more strictly imposed in Spain (and France) than it was in Belgium, resulting in many Spanish riders being not as good.
Look, I'm a bit of a Evenepoel fan, and at the moment of that Tour of Burgos, I was rather convinced that he would be a principal GT contender for years to come. But a more critical view of his results before and after changed my view on that. That, and the rise of Pogacar of course.
Look, Evenepoels main asset is him being very aerodynamic. That simply means you waste less energy overcoming wind resistance, and the faster you go, the more you gain from it. Or, the slower you go, the less you gain. That would also affect his abilities relative to others on longer, but regular, steepish climbs, where speed is low.
Can he win a GT? Yes, but all stars have to be aligned: enough tt, some hard hilly stages, not too much steep mountains, but that's not the way GT courses are going to the last couple of years.

Fair analysis. Evenepoel is world class, especially when it comes to dodging wind on rolling tarmac roads. As a consequence we can expect him to shine in various short stage races like the Tour of Poland. However, due to his specific skill set, winning such warm-up courses wont't necessarily translate to excelling in grand tours.

 

[Red Rick]

There are gonna be stages in GTs where Evenepoel can shine, but it's also a bit of a complicated question if he can do the raids he's done in smaller races in a GT in terms of recovery, etc.

The main question is really the more standard 30-40 minute climbs. But it's a pretty fine line between being a solid top 5 rider who is in range for the opportunistic win and the sort of rider who ships 5+ minutes by default in the high mountains who's out of contention too easily.

 

[Faserr]

One thing is sure. It will be fun to watch on TV. Everything is possible. He probably can ride away from a bunch chasing fullgas on rolling terrain and on the next day he really could loose a lot of time on big mountain stages.

 

[stonerider]

I don't think Remco spent anytime training on dirt this winter...besides the gravel publicity stunt in the US. He went immediately backwards as soon as they hit the gravel segment. He's mental when it comes to riding on dirt. I don't guess we'll ever see him competing in a CX race like Pogacar or finishing top 5 in Strade Bianchi like Bernal. Remco is just not a well rounded cyclist. He's young and he needs to train his weaknesses now if he wants to get better. Otherwise, he's just a good one day racer on courses that suit him and he can win the minor week long stage races when the best riders aren't there.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yeah, he wanted to show his opponents who's the boss...

Or he simply wanted to be able to ride his own trajectory and see where he was going on the "gravel" rather than have others obstruct him from riding favorable parts.

 

[HelloDolly]

He certainly loves the limelight !!!

 

[Salvarani]

He certainly loves the limelight !!!

Sure knows how to showcase how strong he is.

 

[AlfaLum]

Stupid move which costs his team a win here. Well i am sure he meant it well.