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

[Extinction]

The competition is bigger than Poland and he lost the momementum with the Lombardia crash. First he needs to get back on track and then it will be more or less evident if he can become Pogacar's rival. As for the latter, he certainly matured at lightning speed. Now does this meteoric rise simply mean he has hit his peak precosiously and, after a few more years, will start to decline? Or has he still a margin for improvement? This will also indicate whether or not Remco or anyone else for that matter will be able to challenge him over the next 5 years or so.

 

[Netserk]

He was far back in the middle of the peloton before the second ascent of Opellora and spent that climb moving up to the front. On both Ozeka and the last bump, he was distanced more than he should have been if he was just saving himself. Rogla was hiding and saving energy, on Ozeka he let Bilbao close the gap, but was immediately ready to follow his acceleration.

I don't think it makes sense to use context-free training numbers as the basis of race expectations.

 

[Andre]

super lead-out today by Remco.

 

[johnymax]

I understand this on one level. Because Picon Blanco is his most dominant climbing perf.

but it is a false narrative that it is his ONLY climbing perf.

sixth race after career threatening injury with no winter miles, he followed one of the top three climbers in the world — a rider who had prepared his entire season around that one race:

View: https://youtu.be/E3BrDpF463Y


and he has had other strong climbing performances.

the narrative that he has no climbing ability is as false as the narrative that he is sure to be able to compete over three weeks and multiple climbs.

we do not know.

and he has dropped Yates before. This idea that he is way worse than Yates and Vlasov is also as false as stating he is way better. He has dropped them. And they (at least Vlasov) have dropped him.

again, we do not know.

This is true. He has had other good climbing performances. But like you said, he hasn't yet shown he can cope with multiple difficult climbs in a stage. And this year every time there was a steep climb (excluding Malhao) he had troubles following the best. And I was responding to the poster asking if stage 6 is the best stage for Remco. Stage 6 has multiple difficult climbs, so from what we know now, it isn't the best suited to Remco. I expect about 10 riders to do better than him.

I actually believe tomorrow's stage is Remco's chance. Starting from 70km to go you have 4 climbs in succession, all around 3km at 6%. That's queen stage Tour of Poland territory. The problem is that after the last of those four, there is more than 10km of flat/false flat to the start of the Karabieta climb, which should also suit Remco. So I expect him on the attack tomorrow before the final ramp, which is 1km at 9%. That's Alaphilippe and Roglič territory.

And I don't agree with your statement that we don't know, if Remco is a worse or better climber than Vlasov or Yates. Right now, if we are being objective, it's clear Vlasov and Yates are ahead. You'd have to be a massive fanboy if you don't agree with that. Now, if you take a climb that's perfectly suited to Remco, yes, maybe Remco can do better than them. But in any other circumstances, I take Vlasov and Yates, without thinking twice.

And I repeat, I'm talking RIGHT NOW, from what we know now. We don't know what will happen in the future. I'm not one of those who don't believe in Remco ever improving his climbing ability (to be more specific: on multiple climbs, on long and steep climbs, his consistency during a stage race) in the next years. I actually expect him to become a top10 climber, possibly a top5 climber in the world. I also expect him to be much better in the Vuelta this year already. Like I said a couple of times before. He reminds me of Roglic in 2017 as far as his relation between climbing vs TT vs GC in stage races goes. Roglic also won Algarve easily that year. But when he competed in WT stage races against better competition and with harder and longer climbs, there were always 5-10 better climbers than him. At the time I also believed Rogla would improve (but not by that much to be honest).

Good thing is we don't have to wait too long. Saturday will tell us a lot. Maybe I'm wrong and Remco will be among the strongest. If that happens, I'll happily admit I was wrong.

 

[Big Doopie]

This is true. He has had other good climbing performances. But like you said, he hasn't yet shown he can cope with multiple difficult climbs in a stage. And this year every time there was a steep climb (excluding Malhao) he had troubles following the best. And I was responding to the poster asking if stage 6 is the best stage for Remco. Stage 6 has multiple difficult climbs, so from what we know now, it isn't the best suited to Remco. I expect about 10 riders to do better than him.

I actually believe tomorrow's stage is Remco's chance. Starting from 70km to go you have 4 climbs in succession, all around 3km at 6%. That's queen stage Tour of Poland territory. The problem is that after the last of those four, there is more than 10km of flat/false flat to the start of the Karabieta climb, which should also suit Remco. So I expect him on the attack tomorrow before the final ramp, which is 1km at 9%. That's Alaphilippe and Roglič territory.

And I don't agree with your statement that we don't know, if Remco is a worse or better climber than Vlasov or Yates. Right now, if we are being objective, it's clear Vlasov and Yates are ahead. You'd have to be a massive fanboy if you don't agree with that. Now, if you take a climb that's perfectly suited to Remco, yes, maybe Remco can do better than them. But in any other circumstances, I take Vlasov and Yates, without thinking twice.

And I repeat, I'm talking RIGHT NOW, from what we know now. We don't know what will happen in the future. I'm not one of those who don't believe in Remco ever improving his climbing ability (to be more specific: on multiple climbs, on long and steep climbs, his consistency during a stage race) in the next years. I actually expect him to become a top10 climber, possibly a top5 climber in the world. I also expect him to be much better in the Vuelta this year already. Like I said a couple of times before. He reminds me of Roglic in 2017 as far as his relation between climbing vs TT vs GC in stage races goes. Roglic also won Algarve easily that year. But when he competed in WT stage races against better competition and with harder and longer climbs, there were always 5-10 better climbers than him. At the time I also believed Rogla would improve (but not by that much to be honest).

Good thing is we don't have to wait too long. Saturday will tell us a lot. Maybe I'm wrong and Remco will be among the strongest. If that happens, I'll happily admit I was wrong.

All good.

Climbing is not just 10-18%. It is also 5-8%. On the first, sure, Yates is going to be at an advantage. On the latter Remco has actually dropped him several times…

Recent cycling has had a fixation on ever steeper climbs and fewer TT which certainly does not help him.

I too actually expect him to lose a bunch of time on the last stage. Mainly because of his apparent weight and the steepness. I actually expected him to ship some today but he managed better than I expected on the steep stuff probably because there were few attacks.

i also think he needs to reign in his impetuous attacks if he really wants to ride for GC. But then he actually wouldn’t be as exciting a rider so there is always a trade off. I also think he has to realize that he isn’t going to be able to ride these top twenty guys off his wheel.

 

[danielovichdk2]

QS should let Remco sprint for a change. He is clearly more powerful than the bunch in a finale. They guy has a big box of matches, your it's quiet astonishing

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

QS should let Remco sprint for a change. He is clearly more powerful than the bunch in a finale. They guy has a big box of matches, your it's quiet astonishing

Why not. The way they're handling him they've nearly turned him into a dockworker.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Why not. The way they're handling him they've nearly turned him into a dockworker.

Does a few leadouts (which he seems to really enjoy) for one of the best riders in the world: "Hes a dockworker".

Oh god. Do you remember what Cancellara, Sagan or Wout was doing in some races in terms of helping riders better suited for a particular race? This 'me, me, me, ME' attitude from some fans man.

 

[Red Rick]

My only argument against leading out is that maybe doing a reverse leadout is better. Attack at 1km instead of like 1.3, clean the domestique off the wheel and it's hard to close him unless Roglic sprints past Ala to close it.

 

[Big Doopie]

My only argument against leading out is that maybe doing a reverse leadout is better. Attack at 1km instead of like 1.3, clean the domestique off the wheel and it's hard to close him unless Roglic sprints past Ala to close it.

they got to at least try it.

 

[Netserk]

super lead-out today by Remco.

Strong lead-out, but not very well distributed and timed in the end. Ala was blocked by Evenepoel after the latter lost speed compared to the rest when he would have needed a clear lane to the finish.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Does a few leadouts (which he seems to really enjoy) for one of the best riders in the world: "Hes a dockworker".

Oh god. Do you remember what Cancellara, Sagan or Wout was doing in some races in terms of helping riders better suited for a particular race? This 'me, me, me, ME' attitude from some fans man.

What the F are you blabbing about dude.

I'm talking about him being able to crush your skull with his thighs and his exceedingly bulky upperbody. This 'me, me, me, look at me, how clever i am trying to make somebody look like a fool' attitude of some of the posters here, man.

 

[Lequack]

Let the hype begin anew. He just dropped everyone on a steep climb. Can he win the Vuelta? Can anyone actually stop him winning the Vuelta?

 

[Red Rick]

Today was a rolling stage.

 

[Lequack]

Today was a rolling stage.

He dropped Vlasov and Vigeegard so hard they had to walk to the line, couldn't pedal anymore

 

[SafeBet]

I honestly thought this was the best stage for him before they rode it.
The final murito was too short to draw any conclusion about his climbing. The real test is tomorrow.

 

[AlfaLum]

I honestly thought this was the best stage for him before they rode it.
The final murito was too short to draw any conclusion about his climbing. The real test is tomorrow.

Will be very interesting tomorrow. Honestly I think Martinez has the advantage here. Seems to be the better climber and definitely has the better squad present here.

Hoping for Ineos to make it a hard race by sending guys upfront early on than going all out on the Krabelin, which is a point where Remco could really suffer.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Great performance. Carried the break and lost only 2s to Martinez that was just sitting on. Very impressive.

 

[greyclouds]

Great ride kid!

 

[SafeBet]

Will be very interesting tomorrow. Honestly I think Martinez has the advantage here. Seems to be the better climber and definitely has the better squad present here.

Hoping for Ineos to make it a hard race by sending guys upfront early on than going all out on the Krabelin, which is a point where Remco could really suffer.

And if Ineos goes bananas from afar he might be without teammates early.
The main problem for him is that there are a lot of good climbers just a few seconds behind him in GC. Say a strong group with a couple Ineos riders, Vlasov, Vingegaard, Mas, etc drop him on Krabelin... it's game over.

 

[Red Rick]

Is Remco the new Purito ? What a puncheur !

Always could but there was a need to have excuse for getting dropped at long climbs

 

[Extinction]

He showed himself to be better than Roglic and Yates today. At the line he was second in the sprint of his group. The young lad is doing fine, what else could he have done after making the race, except be first in his group sprint? If he can drop the competition on the finishing climb tomorrow he is back on the track of the hype.

 

[Andre]

fantastic attack by Remco today...only a few riders could hang on. Plus he looks real good handling the bike much better. He looked relaxed and barely looking like he was exerting much effort

 

[noob]

Also good interview

 

[Netserk]

Also good interview

So he slid (his back wheel) 75 m to go, 50 m before the other two crashed.