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

[IndianCyclist]

Vingegaard Lost ~2 min to Pogacar in TA2022 and in 4month won the TDF2022 by ~3min. There are 3 months to the Giro with 3 TTs and he has lost just ~1 min. Pogacar/Vingegaard domination is 2024 program

 

[Berniece]

People trying to make conclusions based on this stage are being silly. He attacked too soon, it happens. He was too eager and too arrogant to think he would just destroy all of them 10km’s before the finish.

Making the assumption that his chances to win the giro are now very slim is ridiculous.

 

[Extinction]

People trying to make conclusions based on this stage are being silly. He attacked too soon, it happens. He was too eager and too arrogant to think he would just destroy all of them 10km’s before the finish.

Making the assumption that his chances to win the giro are now very slim is ridiculous.

No assumptions about the Giro, just that his form now sucks, mistake or no mistake. Getting dropped by MAL, Ganna, Higiuta, Bernal Rivera, Rubio is not a passing grade. 3 out of 10.

 

[Berniece]

No assumptions about the Giro, just that his form now sucks, mistake or no mistake. Getting dropped by MAL, Ganna, Higiuta, Bernal Rivera, Rubio is not a passing grade. 3 out of 10.

Because riders can’t blow themselves up anymore? After the attack he should’ve been able to just follow the group after he already put more energy and effort in?

 

[Extinction]

Because riders can’t blow themselves up anymore? After the attack he should’ve been able to just follow the group after he already put more energy and effort in?

No, what I'm saying is he shouldn't have blow up to that extent, which indicates his form is too tacking (considering this is Remco Evenepoel who has bigger fish to fry under much tougher terrain coming up, not Joe Shmoe). Rather he should have gotten caught by a flying MAL and had to settle for fighting it out between them in the end, That's the kind of form he should be building upon right now to head to his next appointment. Instead he was caught by six guys and then got dropped like a stone. So it's not the mistake per se, but the consequences from it. I'm not considering the Giro yet, he's got time to sufficiently improve. Yet he'd better already be sharper at UAE Tour, because another TA 22 against Pogacar will be ugly (I bet primarily for himself).

 

[Berniece]

Rather he should have gotten caught by a flying MAL and had to settle for fighting it out between them in the end, That's the kind of form he should be building upon right now to head to his next appointment.

I disagree, it’s January he shouldn’t be in a higher form since that has implications on the rest of the season. If you peak too early you won’t be able to peak at Giro, WC and also Lombardia

 

[gregrowlerson]

Everyone take a deep breath.

Nibali did something similar early season in all his best seasons; or at least that's the perception I recall.

Nothing - or very little - to see here.

P.S. Hope Logic makes his return here.

 

[Red Rick]

Apogists will say it's only January.

Wait, that's actually ture.

 

[Extinction]

I disagree, it’s January he shouldn’t be in a higher form since that has implications on the rest of the season. If you peak too early you won’t be able to peak at Giro, WC and also Lombardia

I agree with this to a point, to a point because I think the type of peak he needs for the Giro is still a long way off and would have liked to see him a bit sharper. But, of course, there is time. However, as I wrote in the San Juan race thread, from the mental side he won't want to be dropped like a stone by Pogacar at UAE Tour. Champions just don't like that and doubtless he'll want some early confirmation that he is on the right path to take on Roglic et al at the Giro (and be in a position to defend his LBL title, if that's his goal too).

 

[theyoungest]

Vingegaard Lost ~2 min to Pogacar in TA2022 and in 4month won the TDF2022 by ~3min. There are 3 months to the Giro with 3 TTs and he has lost just ~1 min. Pogacar/Vingegaard domination is 2024 program

Vingegaard is not a born one week stage racer, Evenepoel certainly is. So that's not really a useful comparison. It is January though, his main rival for the Giro isn't even fit to race yet, so who cares about San Juan. Except for Belgian media, where even a decent sprint leadout by Evenepoel can fill a front page.

 

[DNP-Old]

Apogists will say it's only January.

Wait, that's actually ture.

It does make me wonder, how many riders in history would demand a multitude of paragraphs and epistles for an underperformance in a random race in January?

 

[theyoungest]

It does make me wonder, how many riders in history would demand a multitude of paragraphs and epistles for an underperformance in a random race in January?

Poulidor famously suffered from all the criticism on social media.

 

[DNP-Old]

Poulidor famously suffered from all the criticism on social media.

Jokes on you, Poulidor never raced in January.

 

[Extinction]

Everyone take a deep breath.

Nibali did something similar early season in all his best seasons; or at least that's the perception I recall.

Nothing - or very little - to see here.

P.S. Hope Logic makes his return here.

It's just analysis based on the moment, because that's what this forum is for. As for Nibali, he was a different case, talented yes, but not such that he could push his base level too high too early and still go higher down the line for the really big objectives.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Clearly failed the test. He is doomed and cannot climb. The Vuelta victory count for nothing, this is his real level.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Clearly failed the test. He is doomed and cannot climb. The Vuelta victory count for nothing, this is his real level.

Yup, he should stick to small one-day races in Belgium. Once he faces real climbers (like Ganna) he's doomed.

 

[Extinction]

Clearly failed the test. He is doomed and cannot climb. The Vuelta victory count for nothing, this is his real level.

Now you are being ridiculous.

 

[peterfin]

If we had power data, we could evaluate this better but from what I have seen, Remco was clearly going all out in that attack and distancing himself quickly from the group. It was just too fast, too furious. He probably knows (and remembers from last season) that if he is in top shape he can keep up his pace after the acceleration. So shape has something to do with it. On the other hand, if he had just followed the group, the data will likely tell him that he would have matched Bernal and co. He was not "dropped as a stone". He could regain his power after suffering for a few km. So in the end it was a combination of bad tactics and lacking top shape but definitely interesting data for the team to work with in preparation of the Giro.

 

[tobydawq]

I am actually a little bit relieved that he couldn't pull that off. The moment he went, I thought for sure the race was decided.

 

[Roku]

Alto del Colorado is the weirdest climb of the year:
First race of the season for almost all european riders
Riding on austral summer, as opposed to the winter season in Europe with little time for adaptation.
Shallow climb, more of a constant uphill drag rather than a proper climb except for a couple of kms.
Extremely high altitude (similar to Stelvio) and very exposed to wind.

In proper conditions, it's true Evenepoel should fancy this climb, but taking everything into account, I wouldn't read too much about this performance.

 

[Extinction]

If we had power data, we could evaluate this better but from what I have seen, Remco was clearly going all out in that attack and distancing himself quickly from the group. It was just too fast, too furious. He probably knows (and remembers from last season) that if he is in top shape he can keep up his pace after the acceleration. So shape has something to do with it. On the other hand, if he had just followed the group, the data will likely tell him that he would have matched Bernal and co. He was not "dropped as a stone". He could regain his power after suffering for a few km. So in the end it was a combination of bad tactics and lacking top shape but definitely interesting data for the team to work with in preparation of the Giro.

No, he was dropped like a stone, just after he unwisely put in an effort he could not maintain or recover sufficiently from, but nobody forced him to do that. On the other hand, I agree the data will be good to work from.

 

[Extinction]

Alto del Colorado is the weirdest climb of the year:
First race of the season for almost all european riders
Riding on austral summer, as opposed to the winter season in Europe with little time for adaptation.
Shallow climb, more of a constant uphill drag rather than a proper climb except for a couple of kms.
Extremely high altitude (similar to Stelvio) and very exposed to wind.

In proper conditions, it's true Evenepoel should fancy this climb, but taking everything into account, I wouldn't read too much about this performance.

Ganna was in the same situation, but paced his effort better and, at his weight, surely is in fine form. It will be interesting to see how he goes in the classics and Giro (for the TTs).

 

[peterfin]

Ganna was in the same situation, but paced his effort better and, at his weight, surely is in fine form. It will be interesting to see how he goes in the classics and Giro (for the TTs).

Ganna is in fine form at the moment. I assume he wants to grab gold medals at the EC track in two weeks and be in top form at the classics (PR in particular).

 

[Salvarani]

Not as good as he started last season in Valenciana and Algarve.

Dont think you can draw any conclusions.

He is peaking for L-B-L and Giro. He should be starting like this and build slowly during the spring. Bit disappointing that he is not fighting for the win in races all year round though.

 

[houtdffan]

Well, we shall see, but I still think he's carrying a couple/few kilos extra and needs to work on high intensity and lactate resistance. Seeing the photo of the podium finishers leads me to this conclusion.

Maybe he needs to burn off a few of those ice creams he ate during the offseason, lol