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.
Ok, but Bernal's big goal is the Tour, he's coming back from injury and is riding better. And I don't think Evenepoel wants to Lemond or Ullrich his way to the big appointment.
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?
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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.Clearly failed the test. He is doomed and cannot climb. The Vuelta victory count for nothing, this is his real level.
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.
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