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

[jflemaire]

Just rewatched the final of 2019's Donostia. Remains unbelievable how that played out, in the light of his age back then.

Also the fact he was dropped in a climb before making it back to the front group in the descent, then went to fetch bottles at the car for his teammates. Yep, that was a weird one.

 

[Lequack]

Have his legs grown in size? From the start of San Sebastian today

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Also the fact he was dropped in a climb before making it back to the front group in the descent, then went to fetch bottles at the car for his teammates. Yep, that was a weird one.

He wasn't dropped, he had a mechanical.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Lmao, I love this rider. You just know when Yates gives up 1 metres that its completely over, done and dusted.

 

[Riek s]

Well we know now the difference between a 2019 and a 2022 Remco.

In 2019 he needed some luck they react to late to close the gap, in 2022 the others need some luck to keep holding his wheel when he pushes the pedals

What a rider.

Probably there will be some people saying its because almeida fell, pog was bad, wva sick... but just riding Yates out your wheel without really pushing it 100% is wow

 

[Valv.Piti]

When Remco is on this form, no way Wout could win such a race against him

Regarding Pogacar, on top form he could obviously compete, but TdF took its toll

He toyed with Simon, a rider on blistering form.

 

[ppanther92]

Evenepoel is the best hilly classic rider. I still doubt if he ever could reach this level in GT GCs but looking forward to the Vuelta.

 

[Blanco]

I don't like him, but kid is a phenomenon!
I can't wait for Vuelta...

 

[Big Doopie]

33 pro wins apparently.

22 years old.

and not a sprinter.

(and basically lost a year).

 

[Didinho]

Good training ride today.
Looks so mighty strong

 

[houtdffan]

Evenepoel is the best hilly classic rider. I still doubt if he ever could reach this level in GT GCs but looking forward to the Vuelta.

No reason Remco cannot make up big time on hilly and medium mountain stages, not the mention the TTs

 

[Big Doopie]

No reason Remco cannot make up big time on hilly and medium mountain stages, not the mention the TTs

not sure it works as simply as that tho. if he has to go deep in the red to not lose too much time in the high mountains, he won't be able to do long raids on the hilly stages to gain time.

he needs to show great 3-week recovery and defend/diesel well in the high mountains.

QS also has to demonstrate that they know how to refuel a GT rider throughout 3 weeks...

my hope is that better prep will allow him to demonstrate that (unlike Giro last year).

i like his stated plan of being aggressive and trying to win both TTs (the TTT and ITT). After the ITT, he can then see where he is at in GC and decide whether to work on that or use the rest of the Vuelta for WC prep.

i don't want him worn out at end of Vuelta (unless he podiums) because then WC battle with Pog is out the window.

 

[Riek s]

not sure it works as simply as that tho. if he has to go deep in the red to not lose too much time in the high mountains, he won't be able to do long raids on the hilly stages to gain time.

he needs to show great 3-week recovery and defend/diesel well in the high mountains.

QS also has to demonstrate that they know how to refuel a GT rider throughout 3 weeks...

my hope is that better prep will allow him to demonstrate that (unlike Giro last year).

i like his stated plan of being aggressive and trying to win both TTs (the TTT and ITT). After the ITT, he can then see where he is at in GC and decide whether to work on that or use the rest of the Vuelta for WC prep.

i don't want him worn out at end of Vuelta (unless he podiums) because then WC battle with Pog is out the window.

Agree, but it will be hard because i expect his position in GC to be very good after the first ITT. So unless he has a really bad day and is out of contention for podium/top5 i think he will try to keep his GC no matter what.
Think he prefers to have a podium in GC over a RR he will need to fight for leadership with wout, or a WC ITT that isn't really a good parcour for him to content for a potential win.

 

[Netserk]

The only worry at this point is if he (and his team) have timed his peak right. There's 6 weeks to the last mountain stage of the Vuelta.

 

[Riek s]

The only worry at this point is if he (and his team) have timed his peak right. There's 6 weeks to the last mountain stage of the Vuelta.

I assume that if they just focussed on volume in the last episode, that shouldn't be a problem. But yeah, we never know with Remco, he might be doing more than is told or than was publicly stated.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The only worry at this point is if he (and his team) have timed his peak right. There's 6 weeks to the last mountain stage of the Vuelta.

The only worry?

• Completely unproven on a climb the size of Sierra Nevada
• Unknown whether he has the recovery required in a GT
• Mediocre support

Of course, every other potential winner in this wide open field has multiple major worries to overcome as well, but I definitely don't agree that peaking too early is the only thing that could derail his GC bid.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think Ill some some decently long endurance rides the next couple of days.

 

[Monte Serra]

Evenepoel needs to ride the Tour next year. No Remco, no drama. At the very least, that's a given on this forum.

 

[KZD]

The only worry?

• Completely unproven on a climb the size of Sierra Nevada
• Unknown whether he has the recovery required in a GT
• Mediocre support

Of course, every other potential winner in this wide open field has multiple major worries to overcome as well, but I definitely don't agree that peaking too early is the only thing that could derail his GC bid.

I agree with the first two points (even though Sierra Nevada is a bit of a unicorn this Vuelta) but I think that he will actually have decent support, only Bora and Ineos should be stronger than Quick-Step.

 

[witeken]

The narrative that Remco can't climb on "real" mountains is getting stale.

Today's climbs were as steep as any in the Vuelta and he blew everyone out of the water. If the "real" climbs are 3x longer then Yates et al. will simply lose 3x more time.

Edit: he just won with a 45k solo, so he doesn't actually need a team. He probably could still win GTs even if he literally didn't have a team at all.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I agree with the first two points (even though Sierra Nevada is a bit of a unicorn this Vuelta) but I think that he will actually have decent support, only Bora and Ineos should be stronger than Quick-Step.

Alaphilippe, Masnada and Van Wilder have all had terrible years. Unless at least one of them really turns it around, he will be consistently without support once the GC group is down to 15-20 riders. Think it's reasonable to expect one of them does hit form in time, but that would not be enough to give Evenepoel the third-best support in the race.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Edit: he just won with a 45k solo, so he doesn't actually need a team. He probably could still win GTs even if he literally didn't have a team at all.

Did you even watch the Tour? At all?

 

[Riek s]

He apparently pushed an estimated of 7,25W/kg on Erlaitz (11min56). Just like in norway, those are numbers he would drop pogacar/froome (2018) roglic (2018)...

edit: also see estimates put it on 7.15W/kg

comparable to the tour 2022 but on a ascent 3min longer

https://twitter.com/x/status/1553430282673569792

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1553430282673569792?cxt=HHwWgIC-4ZKn8o4rAAAA

https://twitter.com/x/status/1548379202113527808

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1548379202113527808

 

[witeken]

Did you even watch the Tour? At all?

Yes. Remco probably got some inspiration from the WvA solo .

 

[houtdffan]

Remco should ALWAYS climb like this. Stop with accelerating and slowing. Just go to the front, turn on the diesel, and watch everyone melt away