• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

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

Page 323 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Should we change the thread title?


  • Total voters
    112
The distributions of their strengths seem quite different to me, so I don't think the comparison is very meaningful, nor do I think it's true that Evenepoel is quite a lot better (as a blanket statement).
It's about as meaningful as compaing him to Bambi. It's trolling 101 but some people find it funny, and that's basically where it ends. Spilak did not win one ITT in his pro career. The joke is that he was "good at one week stageraces" but not at GT's. Evenepoel only did one GT so far after a big injury and messed up winter preparation, but the jury has decided. Spilak in his entire career, won 3 one week stageraces, counting the one won by Valverde before his suspension (which by your logic in the GT podium topic, shouldn't count). Evenepoel, at age 22 after missing the better part of a year due to an injury, has already won 7, with maybe later today his 8th. Evenepoel already has over double the amount of pro wins and more medals at WCC than Spilak had after retiring.

Is he as of now a better climber than Spilak? Can you say that he isn't? Or just that you don't know yet. Evenepoel bonked in the last 1.5k in the first climb in early february. Is that the sample size you want to make that call? Picon Blanco doesn't count? How many times did Spilak bonk? Not that i'm a big Spilak connaisseur but i'm thinking quite often, or he would have been better at GT's. With Evenepoel the argument always steers towards his failures, which are then compared to other riders' successes. There is always some reason why his successes don't count.

Spilak didn't win his GC's against Contador or Froome. He won them against Kruijswijk and Dumoulin (before he became a GC rider). He also quite frequently bonked in one week stageraces, while Evenepoel has won nearly 50% of the one week stage races he entered.
 
Is there even anyone taking this Remco - Spilak comparison so seriously?

It's just a joke, obviously quite degrading for Remco as he's much bigger talent than Spilak, but it's still just a joke.

On the one side there are haters overusing the term of "Belgian Spilak", but on the other side there are Remco lovers taking all of this too seriously.

i am laughing/joking when i use it. to point out how ridiculous it is.

also -- as noted previously -- the haters come off as much more ardent/deranged in their hate. they seem to have not wanted him to succeed from day 1.

most fans often qualify his potential and agree that there are unknowns.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wvv
It seems that everyone takes everything very seriously in this thread (or online forums in general). People use the Belgian Spilak comparison, right or wrong (I think it’s wrong but still funny) simply because others get provoked (specially Logic). It’s like 12 year olds in the playground; you just joke because the other one gets provoked.

*disclaimer: I never used the Belgian Spilak joke, much prefer Goat Masnada and New Kid in the Block Ilan.
 
I guess this is a rather normal thing in sports. You have to constantly prove yourself. When you are down you for sure will get reminded of that. For example Luka Dončić got 0 votes from media regarding the NBA All-Star Game. Around a month later it's painfully clear on what a joke that vote was. The problem with Evenepoel likely is/was he was pushed in a GT contender role too soon. And everything is hence evaluated from that point of view. For now i feel that we can enjoy his TT performances and solo attacks on some shorter stage races. And lets wait for potential GT future if an when he is ready for it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan