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

[Berniece]

Evenepoel himself has said he appears to be ahead of schedule, and comparing this effort to those of previous editions by other GC riders, i would tend to agree. If he already has this level, and he is targeting the Giro in just over 2 months, there is no reason to assume he will not get there in time.

I was wondering, Evenepoel thinks he is ahead of schedule couldn’t it be that he is just even better this year?

 

[steffr222]

I was wondering, Evenepoel thinks he is ahead of schedule couldn’t it be that he is just even better this year?

Wouldn‘t be a surprise, would it? As we all know La Vuelta was the first ever Grand Tour he finished… 3 weeks of racing will have had the usual positive impact on his body, I suppose.

 

[CyclistAbi]

UAE didn't drill it the whole climb because they were all dropped long before halfway. The only UAE left was Yates who got in Evenepoel's wheel most of the time (he did one turn, just after Kuss was dropped) until he attacked a second time at 3k from the top. So Evenepoel didn't "take some turns", it was Yates who took exactly one turn of 55 seconds in between both his attacks.

So UAE as a team drilled it for initial half of the climb. Then Remco drilled it to drop other GC threats. And likely he did it as he wanted to win the stage. Especially on that part that was not so steep and they managed to drop Kuss. As you wouldn't want to have Kuss around in the final 3km if you are after a stage win? And after that Yates drilled it for the final 3km. So in my opinion this is on why the record fell. It was just about going all out through whole of the climb. Compared to lets say last 3 km or so. But feel free to have your own opinion. To me this aspect is really not all that important.

 

[rikvanlooy]

So UAE as a team drilled it for initial half of the climb. Then Remco drilled it to drop other GC threats. And likely he did it as he wanted to win the stage. Especially on that part that was not so steep and they managed to drop Kuss. As you wouldn't want to have Kuss around in the final 3km if you are after a stage win? And after that Yates drilled it for the final 3km. So in my opinion this is on why the record fell. It was just about going all out through whole of the climb. Compared to lets say last 3 km or so. But feel free to have your own opinion. To me this aspect is really not all that important.

Remco told journalists that he "pushed" the same watts as during his vuelta win. He was wondering what were the figures for Yates.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Remco told journalists that he "pushed" the same watts as during his vuelta win. He was wondering what were the figures for Yates.

Could be. Considering the weight was likely slightly higher.

 

[Red Rick]

Remco told journalists that he "pushed" the same watts as during his vuelta win. He was wondering what were the figures for Yates.

He did so after a much easier day, while being a bit heavier presumably.

There's no mystery there. Only Adam Yates peaks for UAE Tour.

 

[Netserk]

UAE didn't drill it the whole climb because they were all dropped long before halfway. The only UAE left was Yates who got in Evenepoel's wheel most of the time (he did one turn, just after Kuss was dropped) until he attacked a second time at 3k from the top. So Evenepoel didn't "take some turns", it was Yates who took exactly one turn of 55 seconds in between both his attacks.

You could go to TIZ and put both video's of the final 10k of the Jebel Hafeet stage side by side. You can start at the moment the peloton goes right on the big roundabout at the start of both videos. In the 2022 edition that is 35 seconds into the video. In the 2023 edition it is 2 minutes into the video (1m25s later in the video, in case you need to resync at some point). You will find the pace UAE set was not faster than last year until less than 1km before Yates' attack. So drilling it "the whole climb" can be reduced to drilling it less than 1k. You will also see that last year Yates and Pogacar were paced by their teammates up to ~3km from the finish, able to conserve energy for imminent attacks.

You can't compare conditions 1:1 (heat, wind, race dynamics...) so the fact that Evenepoel did the climb ~40s faster than Pogacar last year should not be seen as an absolute statement. But i do think it's clear that his effort was at the very least in the same ballpark and that there is no reason to downplay the effort as some have done in the race topic and here. Claiming Pogacar or Vingegaard would have dropped everybody here like a bad habit seems mainly based on wishful thinking.

Evenepoel himself has said he appears to be ahead of schedule, and comparing this effort to those of previous editions by other GC riders, i would tend to agree. If he already has this level, and he is targeting the Giro in just over 2 months, there is no reason to assume he will not get there in time.

I think everyone else is comparing it to the 2021 ascent, not last year.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I think everyone else is comparing it to the 2021 ascent, not last year.

Abi's argument was that UAE "drilled it the whole climb" so i compared it to a significantly slower edition to point out they drilled jack sh*t. If the GPS is correct, they drilled it for roughly 800 meters before Yates' attack, compared to the much slower edition last year. You can see the peloton almost in sync the first part of the climb, with last year's slow edition actually slightly ahead at the last supply check.

So UAE as a team drilled it for initial half of the climb. Then Remco drilled it to drop other GC threats. And likely he did it as he wanted to win the stage. Especially on that part that was not so steep and they managed to drop Kuss. As you wouldn't want to have Kuss around in the final 3km if you are after a stage win? And after that Yates drilled it for the final 3km. So in my opinion this is on why the record fell. It was just about going all out through whole of the climb. Compared to lets say last 3 km or so. But feel free to have your own opinion. To me this aspect is really not all that important.

Again, they drilled it for less than a km in anticipation of Yates attack. Not even the initial half of the climb. Yes Yates attacked early because he wanted to see if he could still win GC (though that's according to what Evenepoel claims Yates told him, because i read Yates told the press he was only going for the stage) and yes Evenepoel wanted to win the stage. Their motivation doesn't really matter, the climb was faster than anybody else ever did it. I'm sure in the past others have tried to win GC or the stage. The power data, if even remotely correct, also backs up the idea that this was anything but an underwhelming effort.

 

[Netserk]

Ah, my bad. I usually don't read CyclistAbi's posts.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I assume he will go on altitude training now (2nd) until the 16th of March. I know some of his teammates are going in preparation of the Giro, and considering he still has to go and said he would do so right after UAE Tour finished, it only makes sense. I think a second altitude camp will follow after Catalunya.

 

[Berflamand]

I assume he will go on altitude training now (2nd) until the 16th of March. I know some of his teammates are going in preparation of the Giro, and considering he still has to go and said he would do so right after UAE Tour finished, it only makes sense. I think a second altitude camp will follow after Catalunya.

Yes he's flying to Tenerife today. Apparently he's not coming back to Belgium until just before Liège so he'll go straight to Catalunya from Tenerife and afterwards immediately to altitude camp again.

 

[Andy schleck]

As for the debates. In my opinion the record time came due to (UAE) drilling it the whole climb. At begining as a team and after Yates put on the pressure. Remco did took some turns. At the end Remco really went deep into red. Don't know if i seen him that far in the red in the past. Likely he wanted to win the stage. And that is on why he did it. So if he really didn't do any altitude trainings and has in between 2 to 3 kilos more weight then his optimal GT weight is. Then he is on the right track. And i do imagine he will try to win some shorter races nearing. The form looks suitable for that.

He didn't do altitude trainings, but he was during the winter on Denia in Spain that has bespoke hypoxic hotel rooms, which can recreate the atmospheric conditions of a stay at altitude. The weight yeah, could be true, the altitude training is not true.

 

[KenFiamingo]

Yes he's flying to Tenerife today. Apparently he's not coming back to Belgium until just before Liège so he'll go straight to Catalunya from Tenerife and afterwards immediately to altitude camp again.

I definitely wouldn't feel the urge to return to Belgium either if I was able to spend 6 weeks in Spain instead.

 

[SafeBet]

I definitely wouldn't feel the urge to return to Belgium either if I was able to spend 6 weeks in Spain instead.

Have you watched the Spanish races lately?

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Logic-is-your-friend

So if they didn't drill it for the duration of the whole climb. You therefore argue Remco was a climbing monster in the finale?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

@Logic-is-your-friend

So if they didn't drill it for the duration of the whole climb. You therefore argue Remco was a climbing monster in the finale?

That's your interpretation. I can only say what happened. The pace in the peloton was not exceptionally high early on, roughly the same pace as last year, which was a slow edition. UAE started drilling it around 7k from the top (although at that moment there were still riders up front from the break away, so that GPS position should have been 7k for the riders up front), at 6.2k Yates launched his attack. Especially McNulty's turn was very high paced and the group got reduced fast. The 2023 group gained a lot of time here compared to 2022 and by the time Yates attacked, they did have a over 20s lead over 2022. When Remco took over, he further gained time compared to 2022 (paced by domestiques), up to the point where Yates attacked in 2022. From there on out, both Yates and Pogacar in 2022, came a lot closer fast. But obviously, they had been able to conserve a lot of energy in 2022 compared to Evenepoel in 2023.

 

[Extinction]

Normally attacks launch at the end of the steep section and they do the easier 3km faster. I checked the Strava files and Evenepoel was like 20+ s faster than Pog on the first 3km but dropped chunks of time in the final kms.. Which basically tells me this climbing record is just because the pacing was much more aggressive.

Also the guys that run the numbers for LR have a tendency to tweak their numbers IMO. There is no way Yates should have a lower W/kg than Evenepoel here, as Evenepoel has a lower CdA, is heavier. Tailwind gets ignored, headwind gets taken into account to push up numbers, that sort of stuff.




Evenepoels best climbing performances the Vuelta were in the rain, but I don't remember how cold it was.

To the bolded, this is always the case, however, you have to have someone who can finish it off. Pantani was all the more remarkable, because he could practically establish a new benchmark alone.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Logic-is-your-friend

I don't see that much difference in between your version and mine. Hence for me this is good enough.

 

[Oldermanish]

I was wondering, Evenepoel thinks he is ahead of schedule couldn’t it be that he is just even better this year?

I would take him at his word. He's the most closely analyzed Belgian; by Belgians. He couldn't get away with pointless speculation on his own part these days.

 

[peterfin]

To stay on topic:

Remco posted his first Tenerife ride on Strava today. Apparantly he stays in the Parador hotel, the same place as where Van Aert still stays ... not that there are many options.

I was in Tenerife last week and I almost "bumped" in to Van Aert while he was speeding down a mountain. I always wonder how much risk these guys take while training there. There is a lot of traffic on the island.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I do wonder if Remco got the same room as Roglič. At Tenerife. The superstar honeymoon suite.

 

[Red Rick]

Let's keep the Clinic talk in the Clinic.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Let's keep the Clinic talk in the Clinic.

Any idea why my post was removed? Is discussing reasons for performance gain OTHER than clinic issues also against the rules now? It was the complete opposite of clinic talk.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco Evenepoel, a great star will shine on the Volta a Catalunya 2023 - Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2024

Reigning world champion Remco Evenepoel will be the greatest attraction of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2023. The Belgian star will take part in the historic Cata

www.voltacatalunya.cat

 

[Berflamand]