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

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Logic is hinting that Remco had something going after the Tour of Norway.

I wasn't hinting anything per se. Actually the person i spoke with was thinking more in line of him biting off more than he could chew that week, which might also hold some merit. He won 3 stages and tried to help a teammate win a 4th (for the team), out of 6 days. Maybe a bit like Van Aert murdering competition in Tour of Britain and being a no-show at the WCC RR a bit later.

But him contracting something might also fit what we're seeing. Let's hope the team is keeping tabs on all possibilities.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Calm down man, it was one bad day. You're supposed to have bad days and bad races and you definitely cannot win them all in a sport like this. Maybe it was just a bad day, or maybe its his level in this race. Either way, no need to overreact like the comments I have seen so far. There are SO many factors which we cannot really account for and we dont necessarily need to find an explanation in order for us to still believe he can win GTs etc.

Who didnt have days like this? Remember Contador in Paris-Nice 2009 at a point were he was just downright godlike Pogacar-levels? *** happens.

 

[The Hegelian]

There's every reason to be super disappointed if you're a Remco fan. The really big question hanging over him is consistency as a GC rider over multiple hard days. Coming into this in red hot form, there was every expectation that this question would at least partly be answered with a top 5 or better overall. But alas, the question becomes ever more urgent instead.

He is still so young and there is every chance he can develop consistency with each passing year. But, the monkey on his back points to the vast array of incredible GC talent through the ages, who never made it because their physiology (or mentality, or both) cursed them with the "bad day" which occurs at least once on every tour.

 

[houtdffan]

One thing that was bizarre was Remco said he forgot there was another climb. He said he'd have tried to hang on longer had he remembered

 

[Cookster15]

Hate to break your narrative, but take it from someone who knows Contador’s numbers better than you or I:



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I think I made clear Contador was a great rider. You can take the rest to the Clinic.

 

[IndianCyclist]

For now, he is a Puncheur who can also win week long races. Sort of a much better version of Schachmann. Unless something changes. GT GC looks out of question

 

[yaco]

Today is the type of stage I've been waiting to see how Remco perfoms - A day with two 45 minute climbs - This will give me a better idea of his GC ambitions at GT's.

 

[Rackham]

Today is the type of stage I've been waiting to see how Remco perfoms - A day with two 45 minute climbs - This will give me a better idea of his GC ambitions at GT's.

If he gets dropped, people will say it's because he had a bad day yesterday & hasn't recovered, or it's because of the heat, or illness etc. If he gets dropped in the Vuelta in August, people will also list xyz reasons.

But the simple fact is he's young & his development is nowhere near complete. There's very little takeaway at this point over than accepting "he's not there yet" with regards to competing for the hardest WT stage races against the very best at this crucial time of the year (emphasis on that part because many of the riders he's competing against are gearing up for the TdF). Norway in that regard was incomparable.

It's not about the route either, i.e. on some days he might crest the hardest cols with the best whilst on others he doesn't. But this is true for almost everyone (look at riders like David Gaudu, aka an accomplished climber who'll stay with the best on the toughest passes until he has that usual awful day which destroys his GC chances).

We won't know whether Evenepoel can overcome his own problems... until he either does or doesn't. Give him another 2, 3 & even 4 years & a clearer picture will emerge.

 

[frisenfruitig]

You guys ever get tired of repeating the same arguments? I get that some can’t wait to make a final conclusion but the guy hasn’t even turned 23 years old.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Today is the type of stage I've been waiting to see how Remco perfoms - A day with two 45 minute climbs - This will give me a better idea of his GC ambitions at GT's.

If they do the last climb in 45 minutes they will make Pogacar look like an amateur though.

 

[Lui98]

Thanks to the Covid outbreak in the peloton, now Remco has a chance to get back in contentions for a good place in the GC. I hope so, because I have him in my fantasy team

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkEpbAZi46o

Good interview. Interesting comment... that he needs good legs in order to perform on such a stage.

Impossible to say for sure, but that could be the issue that explains his lack of consistency in stage races like T-A, Itzulia, and now, TdS ...that climbing is so far outside his comfort zone that he can't limit his losses when he only has decent legs.

 

[hayneplane]

One thing that was bizarre was Remco said he forgot there was another climb. He said he'd have tried to hang on longer had he remembered

Heat exhaustion can cause a certain delirium and confusion which would fit with no longer being aware of the course left to ride.

 

[Roku]

He's not even resisting the comparison with Simon Spilak

Right now it's starting to look like the new Juan Carlos Domínguez.

 

[Lequack]

Simon Spilak also didn't like heat.

 

[peterfin]

DNS of Louis Vervaeke due to covid. So QS is also impacted. It may be Remco's last day in the TdS.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

DNS of Louis Vervaeke due to covid. So QS is also impacted. It may be Remco's last day in the TdS.

Roommates.

 

[spalco]

One thing that was bizarre was Remco said he forgot there was another climb. He said he'd have tried to hang on longer had he remembered

Physical fatigue can lead to mental fatigue.

It sucks, I'm disappointed too, but in the end, like others said, it's just the Tour the Suisse. Maybe (another) good lesson for him.

 

[Riek s]

Everything seems to point to early Covid infection, in which case today will be worse. until he tests positive (if he does that at all).

 

[kingjr]

Remco came out of the juniors straight into the World Tour and began to repeatedly win. It's normal that the interest and hype around him, given his precoscious age, especially in a cycling mad country like Belgium that has not had a rider who could win the Tour since Lucian Van Impe and Merckx, has been stratospheric. And if it wasn't for a certain Pogacar none of that hype would seem misplaced. He would have had the normal expectations of development otherwise, but history has determined a tough fate.

Is it normal? Perhaps. Is it sensible? I think not. I guess everyone can decide for themselves whether they would rather want to do what is normal, or what is sensible.

 

[Andre]

Everything seems to point to early Covid infection, in which case today will be worse. until he tests positive (if he does that at all).

...or maybe a catarrh

 

[peterfin]

Everything seems to point to early Covid infection, in which case today will be worse. until he tests positive (if he does that at all).

Continuing such a brutal effort in hot conditions while having covid must be a recipe for disaster. I hope he abandons the race if he feels again he is not 100%.

 

[Big Doopie]

Continuing such a brutal effort in hot conditions while having covid must be a recipe for disaster. I hope he abandons the race if he feels again he is not 100%.

indeed. I wouldn’t want him to jeopardize Belgian national championships… :-|

 

[yaco]

indeed. I wouldn’t want him to jeopardize Belgian national championships… :-|

Actually the NC's will be affected by the COVID outbreaks - Many of the TDF riders will not attend.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Still favourite for the Vuelta