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

[Scarponi]

Now the Gazetta Dello Sport is also insinuating Remco used Covid19 as an excuse. He would no longer by in a mental and physical condition to win the Giro.

There is really no shame...
Hope Remco stays calm and answers with the pedals soon.

If there is anyone who would pull
Out for that reason the 1% chance would be the dummy spit boy

 

[Mayomaniac]

According to Lefevere RCS doesn't pay big money. They supposedly offer extra accommodations etc instead.

Froome got big money, but I suppose that was via Israel. That said, has Lefevre ever said that someone his giving him big money?

 

[wheresmybrakes]

The organisers shouldn't pay extra money or give incentives to attract the top riders. Up the prize money or tell them, this is it, take it or leave it. I'm sure there's plenty of other riders who would be happy to win a GT, with or without the best riders.

As for Rem only going to the Tour with the intention to win. Will they pull him out if it looks like he can't win it part way through? He's not entitled to win everything he enters just because he's Remco, no matter how good he is.

 

[Lui98]

According to Lefevere RCS doesn't pay big money. They supposedly offer extra accommodations etc instead.

Tuttobiciweb (which I honestly don't usually take that seriously, so take what I am writing with a pinch of salt) reported that RCS allegedly paid 500 thousand Euros in exchange for Remco participation to the Giro

 

[Red Rick]

Tuttobiciweb (which I honestly don't usually take that seriously, so take what I am writing with a pinch of salt) reported that RCS allegedly paid 500 thousand Euros in exchange for Remco participation to the Giro

Don't wanna brag but I would DNF the Giro for far less than that.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Don't wanna brag but I would DNF the Giro for far less than that.

I would DNS for a lukewarm beer.

 

[peterfin]

That sounds like a really childish take to me, their all or nothing attitude when it comes to Remco isn't doing him any favours. Might also just be Lefevre trying to protect his brand and his own interest when it comes to the sponsors.
This year the Tour is unrealistic because of the whole preparation and having to change the schedule of everyone else, but why can't you just send him to a race as a learning experience? What if he rides the Tour next year and the hectic first week is a bit of a problem for him? IMO he'd be better off on a non-Belgian team without a big Belgian sponsor.

An other team? He wants G to protect the pink jersey so maybe he already made his choice ...

 

[Red Rick]

That sounds like a really childish take to me, their all or nothing attitude when it comes to Remco isn't doing him any favours. Might also just be Lefevre trying to protect his brand and his own interest when it comes to the sponsors.
This year the Tour is unrealistic because of the whole preparation and having to change the schedule of everyone else, but why can't you just send him to a race as a learning experience? What if he rides the Tour next year and the hectic first week is a bit of a problem for him? IMO he'd be better off on a non-Belgian team without a big Belgian sponsor.

My very big problem with going to the Tour without trying to win is how is Tour de France breakaways worth more than trying to win the Vuelta again?

 

[Volderke]

When guys like Pidcock and Roglic refuse to work with him because they know they would get dropped like a brick, who do you think is going to work with him when he goes for stages in the Tour? Why should that even be goal in itself for him?

The only way they should send him is if they think he has at least an outsider's chance to go for GC. And if he himself is content to let the WCC become an afterthought.

Why would Remco want someone to join him? He has stages like liege in the tour, where he could go solo (not from the start, but from 20-30K out) and no team able to control the race fully.

Anyways, doctors advice riders with COVID to rest a whole week. If Remco is obedient, he won’t train before 22nd of may, and that is IF he is healthy and feeling well by then. From what I heard in the team, they aren’t too eager to let him do the Tour but maybe they change plans, it’s not impossible. I reckon Patlev wouldn’t mind having his star racer in the biggest race of the season.

With regards to asymptomatic etc: Remco already felt a bit suboptimal on Saturday, but as he didn’t have COVID symptoms (those are: Fever or chills · Cough · Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing · Fatigue · Muscle or body aches · Headache · New loss of taste or smell), they decided business as usual.
It’s only after the tt that he felt feverish and they quickly assumed that whatever he got from Saturday, was worse on Sunday. As it turned out he had COVID, given with how he deteriorated, the decision to pull out was very easy and straightforward.

I honestly cant see why this is so controversial.

 

[Rackham]

My very big problem with going to the Tour without trying to win is how is Tour de France breakaways worth more than trying to win the Vuelta again?

I don't even see why he's discounted as a potential Tour winner.

He did 8 days in the Giro & never had to dig deep in any mountain stages. It should be a matter of seeing where his health is in a week or so & then starting the process towards the TdF. I'm just listening to Johan Bruyneel on the Move podcast & I swear the amount of mollycoddling about the team requiring 'perfect preparation' for Remco Evenepoel to do the TdF is a very strange thing. They make something most others do without overthinking anything sound like rocket science (like if he doesn't get the precise planning in his prep, he's incapable of doing anything good). It's nuts.

There are two outstanding favorites but based on what I've seen of Evenepoel for a year now, no one could convince me he can't podium the Tour 2023 just because he hasn't had some sort of super plan implemented which leads towards that goal. It's crazy IMO.

As long as he recovers from Covid, he should be better than Gaudu, Hindley, Carapaz & whomever else is below Vinge & Pog. It's why the talk of some here about "only stage hunting" is also crazy. He's way better than that & should go for GC this year.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't even see why he's discounted as a potential Tour winner.

He did 8 days in the Giro & never had to dig deep in any mountain stages. It should be a matter of seeing where his health is in a week or so & then starting the process towards the TdF. I'm just listening to Johan Bruyneel on the Move podcast & I swear the amount of mollycoddling about the team requiring 'perfect preparation' for Remco Evenepoel to do the TdF is a very strange thing. They make something most others do without overthinking anything sound like rocket science (like if he doesn't get the precise planning in his prep, he's incapable of doing anything good). It's nuts.

There are two outstanding favorites but based on what I've seen of Evenepoel for a year now, no one could convince me he can't podium the Tour 2023 just because he hasn't had some sort of super plan implemented which leads towards that goal. It's crazy IMO.

As long as he recovers from Covid, he should be better than Gaudu, Hindley, Carapaz & whomever else is below Vinge & Pog. It's why the talk of some here about "only stage hunting" is also crazy. He's way better than that & should go for GC this year.

I cannot remember any good Tour bids that were preceded by a May peak and failed Giro bid.

 

[houtdffan]

I cannot remember any good Tour bids that were preceded by a May peak and failed Giro bid.

Basso 2005

 

[peterfin]

He can be on the tour podium this year and he doesn't need a full team in support to do it. He shouldn't waste another year.

 

[Salvarani]

I cannot remember any good Tour bids that were preceded by a May peak and failed Giro bid.

Thomas in 2017 didnt finish either the Giro or the Tour. He were 2nd on GC in the Tour when he had to leave the race after breaking his collarbone.

He probably would have had a pretty good chance to finish on the podium. Next year he went on to win.

 

[Nick2413]

I don't even see why he's discounted as a potential Tour winner.

He did 8 days in the Giro & never had to dig deep in any mountain stages. It should be a matter of seeing where his health is in a week or so & then starting the process towards the TdF. I'm just listening to Johan Bruyneel on the Move podcast & I swear the amount of mollycoddling about the team requiring 'perfect preparation' for Remco Evenepoel to do the TdF is a very strange thing. They make something most others do without overthinking anything sound like rocket science (like if he doesn't get the precise planning in his prep, he's incapable of doing anything good). It's nuts.

There are two outstanding favorites but based on what I've seen of Evenepoel for a year now, no one could convince me he can't podium the Tour 2023 just because he hasn't had some sort of super plan implemented which leads towards that goal. It's crazy IMO.

As long as he recovers from Covid, he should be better than Gaudu, Hindley, Carapaz & whomever else is below Vinge & Pog. It's why the talk of some here about "only stage hunting" is also crazy. He's way better than that & should go for GC this year.

After thinking about this a bit more I think he could peak about as well for the Tour as he just did for the Giro. The infection is mostly irrelevant. If any of the top Tour contenders were announced to have caught a virus today it wouldn’t remotely change my expectations for their Tour form. Treating this as a 1-week tune up race with a rest week then an altitude camp would be considered ideal prep for many riders. Of course he planned to peak for the Giro, but I think that is a bit overrated considering he never blew his load which makes it quite different. True, not the same as a targeted peak, but very very close. I don’t really care what he does but I would probably want to go for it.

 

[KZD]

My very big problem with going to the Tour without trying to win is how is Tour de France breakaways worth more than trying to win the Vuelta again?

The thing is that winning the Vuelta this year would be clearly harder than last year because this time, the World Championships are before the Vuelta not after and the 2023 Vuelta route is very hard. Getting into the Tour podium wouldn't be more difficult in my opinion and if I was him I know which one would I prefer.

Even if the Tour podium bid fails, winning a stage in the rainbow jersey and getting a top10 result overall would already be a nice result for a debutant.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Why are people talking about him going for the podium at the Tour? You sure you're talking about Rem? I though only a win was good enough or it's handle bar smashing and tantrum throwing. He's even 7/1 on Oddschecker for the Tour, super odds for him.

 

[jmdirt]

Cycling Italian Journalism is just *** in general.

As for Vanmol, it's not like other races had some rule about covid this year, and the weren't that many cases. Thing started to go south between Liege and Romandie, it's probably just the weather turning real bad that make riders more exposed.

Eddy, I'm replying to you, but several have said similar. The weather doesn't cause a virus (covid, flu...). The stress (physical/mental) of the race and trying to stay warm makes it harder for our immune system to battle the virus, but if we don't have a virus the weather makes no difference.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Dont think he has enough time to recover and prepare for the TDF. If he goes for GC, Pig and Fish will make chips out of him and that is not good for morale. If he goes for stage wins, they will also draft him for the leadout train, so dont think he will learn much. Vuelta is a good option where he can again go for GC and gain exp.

 

[Red Rick]

The thing is that winning the Vuelta this year would be clearly harder than last year because this time, the World Championships are before the Vuelta not after and the 2023 Vuelta route is very hard. Getting into the Tour podium wouldn't be more difficult in my opinion and if I was him I know which one would I prefer.

Even if the Tour podium bid fails, winning a stage in the rainbow jersey and getting a top10 result overall would already be a nice result for a debutant.

If you're Evenepoel settling for stage wins + top 10 is just what?

You're not gonna convince me he's more likely to hit top form for the Tour than Vuelta. You're also not gonna convince me 3rd in the Tour is a better result than winning a 2nd Vuelta.

The only reason to go to the Tour if is you really think he can win it, or, more likely, you're afraid to lose at the Vuelta.

 

[Red Rick]

Thomas in 2017 didnt finish either the Giro or the Tour. He were 2nd on GC in the Tour when he had to leave the race after breaking his collarbone.

He probably would have had a pretty good chance to finish on the podium. Next year he went on to win.

He won the Tour prologue, but he also got only 10th on Planche de Belles Filles and got dropped pretty hard there. I don't think he was on his way to a top 5 there.

 

[red_flanders]

If you're Evenepoel settling for stage wins + top 10 is just what?

You're not gonna convince me he's more likely to hit top form for the Tour than Vuelta. You're also not gonna convince me 3rd in the Tour is a better result than winning a 2nd Vuelta.

The only reason to go to the Tour if is you really think he can win it, or, more likely, you're afraid to lose at the Vuelta.

Why would he be afraid to lose the Vuelta? Or any other race, for that matter?

 

[houtdffan]

Lefevere says Remco Evenepoel was 'sick as a dog' before Giro d'Italia abandon

Soudal-QuickStep team doctor explains why he pulled Evenepoel from the Giro d'Italia

www.cyclingnews.com

We came to the Giro to win. You could see that Remco was sick even the day before the time trial. He looked tired but he still won the time trial. He deserves some respect for that

Lefevre admitting Remco was sick on Saturday

 

[Salvarani]

He won the Tour prologue, but he also got only 10th on Planche de Belles Filles and got dropped pretty hard there. I don't think he was on his way to a top 5 there.

It is not really a climb that suits him the best.

In the stage he was only 14 seconds behind Uran, who finished 2nd overall. 16 seconds behind Bardet, who finished 3rd overall.

Landa was 27 seconds behind Thomas on that stage and he almost got on the podium in the end. Before that he had finished 17th overall and won the mountains classification in the Giro.

Sky were still dominating and I think Thomas would have had a pretty good shot at a top 5 this edition, but we will never get the answer on that.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Remco may well be the next Merckx but he's leagues behind Armstrong.

Tuttobiciweb report he got a half million euros appearance fee from RCS.

Lance got a cool millon dollars in 2009.

And Froome, he was supposed to be on €1.4m in 2018.

At half a mil, Remco's a bargain basement Merckx. It's no wonder he pulled out with only a third of the race done. Bargain basement deals are always breaking down.