I expected worse after yesterday, but then again, they didn't ride the climb very fast. Anyway, he'll be fine, eventually.
- Jun 7, 2011
- 20,975
- 20,308
- 28,180
- Apr 12, 2015
- 7,060
- 1,204
- 20,680
At some point, we have to stop making excuses for Remco's climbing.
He is perfect for rolling hills and medium mountains, not the longer climbs.
He is perfect for rolling hills and medium mountains, not the longer climbs.
You mean like yesterday?
- Jun 7, 2011
- 20,975
- 20,308
- 28,180
Maybe you missed it, but he lost less time on the hard mountain stage than he did on the hilly/medium mountain stage yesterday. Could you also shine your light on what happened in Norway?
He's not 100%. You can clearly see it. I mean if even Kung drops you uphill...
If there are no specific health reasons for his performance the past few days, expectations for the Vuelta have to be adjusted to the downside. Focusing on a stage win would be more reasonable.
Because he was below par two days in a row, my guess is that something's wrong with his health and at 1500m altitude, it's not going to be the heat.
Because he was below par two days in a row, my guess is that something's wrong with his health and at 1500m altitude, it's not going to be the heat.
- Feb 1, 2011
- 9,403
- 2,275
- 20,680
It's two months until the start of the Vuelta. No reason to panic, but I suppose expectations should be kept low (for real, not just pretending).
- Jul 16, 2015
- 5,374
- 13,954
- 23,180
You type this like you've made a point but someone could equally retort "yes, Norway, where on the palmarès he joined legendary Tour of Norway & future GT winners like Ethan Hayter, Kristoff & Eduard Prades...".
I'll sound like a boring stereotype here but both extremes (aka people who bury Evenepoel after a bad result & also people who find excuse after excuse) are wrong.
He is what he is. Everyone in the peloton has good days & bad days. Some have lit up climbs in some races & faded badly in others. For every climb in Norway where Evenepoel impressed the watts analysts, there are other climbs in WT races like Switzerland where he just fades. This isn't new.
Until he wins the Tour de Suisse or such a race & podiums a Grand Tour, it's wait & see. I know that's annoying (& doesn't generate debate), but I believe that's the only answer here on the Evenepoel topic.
- Sep 14, 2009
- 6,300
- 3,561
- 23,180
Agree!
Also, for those who then compare (perhaps internally) to riders who seem to never have bad days and seem almost inhuman, well there are clinical explanations for those phenomena, so perhaps chillax
- Aug 31, 2019
- 3,503
- 6,282
- 14,180
If anyone actually would reply that they would look really stupid as the parcour of Tour of Norway this year was nothing like in previous years when those you mentioned won it.
It would be like comparing the winners of the flat editions of Milano-Torino with the winners of the climbing editions.
- Jul 16, 2015
- 5,374
- 13,954
- 23,180
Yes & no.
In terms of parcours, maybe, but in terms of intensity & density of opposition, no.
Smaller races have never been good for extrapolating performances in bigger WT stage races. You can find an endless list of performers in races like the Tour of Norway (with or without climbs) who don't make the jump. I mean for example we just had Ruben Guerreiro win the Mont Ventoux challenge (& do a good performance in the final Dauphiné climb last weekend), but does he have a thread of fans saying he'll go toe-to-toe against the favorites in the TdF? No.
Liège is a far better example of Evenepoel's abilities (& they're huge), but as it stands, he's a phenomenal one day racer & monument winner who can also win stage races, just not the biggest. Not yet. Tbh I find his efforts in Itzulia in April were far more noteworthy than winning Norway, i.e. due to the nature of that race.
- Feb 20, 2012
- 53,905
- 44,292
- 28,180
I don't know why anyone is eager to take anything from this race. My only takeaway is that his bad days are actually really bad but then the form to win was probably never there.
- Feb 25, 2016
- 469
- 333
- 9,980
- Nov 2, 2020
- 212
- 411
- 4,130
He was interviewed by Het Nieuwsblad after the race.
Link: https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20220617_95630892
I used a translator, so there could be some mistakes.
Link: https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20220617_95630892
I used a translator, so there could be some mistakes.
Apparently they estimated the final climb was done at a staggering 5.52W/kg. So Remco atm can't even hold 350W now.
Yeah this is nothing to do with climbing or just a bad day imo. HE can say what he wants, but those numbers don't indicate a high pace at all, which is probably the reason why he could keep the pace for so long as well.
They did this climb at a slow pace, hence why Kung was still there. If WVA was present, he would have won the sprint at the finish.
Yeah this is nothing to do with climbing or just a bad day imo. HE can say what he wants, but those numbers don't indicate a high pace at all, which is probably the reason why he could keep the pace for so long as well.
They did this climb at a slow pace, hence why Kung was still there. If WVA was present, he would have won the sprint at the finish.
- Feb 1, 2020
- 1,906
- 2,080
- 8,680
- Aug 29, 2011
- 3,700
- 2,089
- 16,680
Remco being only 15th in GC right now doesn't look great. But you have to remember that a lot of riders that would have been behind him have had to forfeit because of COVID.
- Jul 9, 2009
- 7,862
- 1,272
- 20,680
- Jul 12, 2012
- 448
- 547
- 10,880
He had heat exhaustion. It's clearly obvious in his Stage 5 post race interview. While he's made a course errors him indicating that he didn't remember that there was a final climb is massive indicator that had heat exhaustion.
I also advised that he would lose time through the rest of mountain stages because even top end athletes need 24-48 hours to recover and that's if the athlete is question is resting not putting in massive effort.
1. I expected him to lose much more today. You don’t recover from a day like he had yesterday overnight. Gone are the days of overnight refueling, thankfully.
2. Seems as though he responds mightily to altitude training (pre-Norway), but that the drop off may be fairly abrupt.
3. I agree that he probably peaked at Norway. And it does appear that his dropoff results in bad days. Reminds me of last fall. Flying at the Worlds and Italian classics. Then total crash and burn at Lombardy. He hadn’t planned to compete in Nations TT. But then did at the last minute in order to get rid of the bad taste from Lombardy. Instead he really underperformed there, trounced by Kung but also 3-4 other riders. So…
Have to admit that it does not bode well for 3 week races. However, he is very young and I think you can build resistance and consistencyas you get older.
I do enjoy the highs tho. His TT at Algarve, his attacking and battling at Itzulia, his stunning LBL win, and his three wins in Norway by different means. Love to see him do well at Belgian nationals, but I doubt he will be on a high again by then.
He seemed like he prepared LBL perfectly (Itzulia). Like to have him do that more often and not try to win EVERY race he enters.
2. Seems as though he responds mightily to altitude training (pre-Norway), but that the drop off may be fairly abrupt.
3. I agree that he probably peaked at Norway. And it does appear that his dropoff results in bad days. Reminds me of last fall. Flying at the Worlds and Italian classics. Then total crash and burn at Lombardy. He hadn’t planned to compete in Nations TT. But then did at the last minute in order to get rid of the bad taste from Lombardy. Instead he really underperformed there, trounced by Kung but also 3-4 other riders. So…
Have to admit that it does not bode well for 3 week races. However, he is very young and I think you can build resistance and consistencyas you get older.
I do enjoy the highs tho. His TT at Algarve, his attacking and battling at Itzulia, his stunning LBL win, and his three wins in Norway by different means. Love to see him do well at Belgian nationals, but I doubt he will be on a high again by then.
He seemed like he prepared LBL perfectly (Itzulia). Like to have him do that more often and not try to win EVERY race he enters.
He said in advance that he would be aiming for a podium spot in the TdS and he' a long way off, despite half the peloton dropping out.
TRENDING THREADS
-
World Championship 2025: Men’s RR, September 28- Started by Berniece
- Replies: 2K
-
Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread- Started by DNP-Old
- Replies: 35K
-
Il Lombardia 2025, monument, October 11- Started by Krzysztof_O
- Replies: 792
-
Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread- Started by Lequack
- Replies: 41K
-
European Championship 2025: Men’s RR, October 5- Started by Berniece
- Replies: 854
-
Teams & Riders The Great Big Cycling Transfers, Extensions, and Rumours Thread- Started by RedheadDane
- Replies: 13K
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram