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

[Riek s]

REmco just clearly saying his leg still felt stif but a lot better than yesterday. So atm he isn't fading, just the impact from the crash.

lets see for the next week how he holds up. Clearly he can win a GT, lets hope he can do that with this Vuelta as well... he will be very close in any case.

 

[Bonimenier]

Listening to the post race interview, it sounds like the crash bothered him more than he made it seem.

 

[dazaau]

That was a good day. Odds on favourite from here now.

 

[Oldermanish]

He still has enough margin to ensure victory. But the team is faltering. >20 k alone in lead is not good team work

Excellent point and IMO why Roglic stalked him while Mas was slightly up the road. Each day will make that situation tougher for DQS. Roglic needs to use everyone to get to stage 20 while conserving energy whenever possible to have a chance. He's doing that and Remco is admirably maintaining a precious lead.
This is getting to be a great Vuelta.

 

[Big Doopie]

Listening to the post race interview, it sounds like the crash bothered him more than he made it seem.

they always hide that stuff.

Like Rog at TDF. he had to so that Pog still thought he might be threat on the granon stage when all of JV knew he was done.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Stage 18 is not hard enough so unless he has bad legs, he will not loose time. Stage 20 is key for the finsl outcome

 

[spalco]

Excellent, confident ride today. I'm very happy with this result.

Let's hope for a strong rest day tomorrow and renewed energy for defending the lead in week 3.

 

[DNP-Old]

Listening to the post race interview, it sounds like the crash bothered him more than he made it seem.

Judging by the bowling ball on his hip, I'd assume so. The fact that he was able to withstand the onslaught with it, knowing he'd be targeted heavily after losing time the day before, speaks volumes about his mentality. Remains to be seen whether he'll win the entire thing, but he'll have no regrets about the outcome.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Looked way better than yesterday, I wouldn't have bet on him loosing less time (to Roglic) today than he did yesterday. That said, I'm still not convinced that he could handle a 3rd week with hard mountain stages, at least not with the current approach that Quickstep and his coaches seem to have (starting the first race after a training block like a bat out of hell).

 

[Mayomaniac]

Judging by the bowling ball on his hip, I'd assume so. The fact that he was able to withstand the onslaught with it, knowing he'd be targeted heavily after losing time the day before, speaks volumes about his mentality. Remains to be seen whether he'll win the entire thing, but he'll have no regrets about the outcome.

IMO the mental thing is a bit overblown when it comes to injuries that prevent you from pushing your usual numbers.

 

[Andre]

Good ride by Evenepoel...much stronger than I thought. Roglic only 15 seconds better and Quickstep is riding a more intelligent race than Jumbo Visma. Jumbo not really strong enough to hurt Remco. I think it was smart of Remco to lead the way cause it seemed to drain Roglic to the point where he just tried in desperation to gain 15 seconds towards the very end. I'm very surprised that O'Connor rode pretty strong. I also believe that in the week coming Remco will put more time on both Mas and Roglic. Would it have made a difference if Masnada hadn't crashed? I wonder. Anyway...Go Remco Go!!! You're almost there

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Dare i say his bad day was due to his crash?. not sure how good he is now, but seems a lot better than yesterday.

I dunno if it was only because of the crash but it looks that it was a one-off weakness. Definitely way better today than yesterday and possibly even stronger than Roglic (despite losing time). His only mistake was that he didn't try to persuade Primoz to cooperate on the shallower section (probably no time loss then).

 

[Extinction]

He defended tu he jersey valiantly, but is still sore from the crash. Incidentally Contador said today Remco has won the Vuelta.

 

[JosefK]

Sometimes a less glamorous ride is a rider's best. I think today (stage 15) was Remco's best ride in this Vuelta. He looked great on days when he was feeling great, but today he put up a monster fight. I think he holds on for the overall win next week, but we'll see. Worthy opponents in 2nd and 3rd on GC.

 

[houtdffan]

Pog's only chance is stage 20

And that is a stage that favors Remco far more with the repetitive, gradual climbs. Plus, the flat run in to the finish

 

[dazaau]

He defended tu he jersey valiantly, but is still sore from the crash. Incidentally Contador said today Remco has won the Vuelta.

I agree and Remco is in the box seat. However Contador is a bit of a shocker at picking winners, that is not in remco's favour

 

[Bonimenier]

Pog's only chance is stage 20

And that is a stage that favors Remco far more with the repetitive, gradual climbs. Plus, the flat run in to the finish

What a surprise for the GC riders it will be when Pog suddenly turns up in stage 20.

 

[dazaau]

Pog's only chance is stage 20

And that is a stage that favors Remco far more with the repetitive, gradual climbs. Plus, the flat run in to the finish

Can pogacar start after two weeks of racing?

 

[Salvarani]

He still has enough margin to ensure victory. But the team is faltering. >20 k alone in lead is not good team work

It was a big effort but he defended himself well and limited his losses.

His team is having a hard time. He will have to be really strong in the third week.

 

[Extinction]

What a surprise for the GC riders it will be when Pog suddenly turns up in stage 20.

Indeed, which is why I wrote 'incidentally' caveat canem, but who knows?

 

[houtdffan]

What a surprise for the GC riders it will be when Pog suddenly turns up in stage 20.

oh dear...

how do I get rog and pog mixed up?

time for me to get 8 hours of sleep

 

[Big Doopie]

Can pogacar start after two weeks of racing?

pog can do anything he wants.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Can pogacar start after two weeks of racing?

Pogacar is just cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Turns out this was not a case of Prato Neveso-Colle delle Finestre. I thought he'd lose the jersey today, but he looked en completely control on Hazallanes.

Theres a punchy finish, 2 very easy MTFs and then the mountains of Madrid left. I will give him 80% chance of winning now

 

[Big Doopie]

Theres a punchy finish, 2 very easy MTFs and then the mountains of Madrid left. I will give him 80% chance of winning now

just keep letting the break take the bonuses.

not sure jumbo can chase that all day as well as put remco in difficulty.

• Needs to heal from crash over next two days
• Not have a collapse - the gradients should help him