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

[Logic-is-your-friend]

The move worked in large part because the French team rode really poorly.

What are you talking about. Especially Senechal did everything he could for Remco.

 

[hayneplane]

The Amstel break was still different, there was quite a concerted chase going on which got interrupted by a crash, among other things. But there was nothing inevitable about that break at the Worlds staying away. So I'm just guessing that if in Glasgow he jumps in a break at 70 k to go, other countries won't let that happen. Just like with a Van der Poel or a Pogacar.

And this is because I like to see an exciting race. If he drops all the favourites, fair play to him.

It won’t be a case of letting it happen but I would expect them to be wise to it by now and for the other bigs to move straight after him if they have the legs to do so as Flanders and Roubaix 23 both showed the top guys are not afraid to move up to 2 hours out from the finish.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I should definitely get a cycling license so i can outsmart this entire peloton of idiots, follow Remco, finish 2nd in every race Evenepoel wins and have a stellar palmares.

Remco is a poor sprinter so you should win a fair share of those races.
When on Remco's wheel just don't forget to get attached to his bike with a hook.

 

[KenFiamingo]

Remco is a poor sprinter so you should win a fair share of those races.
When on Remco's wheel just don't forget to get attached to his bike with a hook.

Perhaps but he has aeroskin and i have not.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Perhaps but he has aeroskin and i have not.

Maybe you have and just don‘t know. Try riding your standard route naked and see if you go faster!

 

[Oldermanish]

I'm just curious to see a race with the big 5, 6 or whatever they are battling it out. Not one where all but one are eliminated already 2 hours before the finish. In Flanders you could see, there was nothing to be done about Pogacar, he was far and away the strongest. At last year's Worlds you just didn't know, there was never a real race.

Credit goes to Remco for showing the initiative in both WC and his last classic win. The Classic win was well calculated and he took maximum advantage of bad road conditions. It was a strong and safe choice.
At the WC he did the smart thing and sought to get away from a large field that was lethargic; no doubt to thin the ranks and sort out who he'd need to race against. I doubt very strongly he expected no serious reaction until he had a gap he could defend but he did the work to go the distance. No flukes, just hard work.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoel explains why going to the Tour was never an option after his DNF in the Giro. There is no way for him to start without major expectations and when he goes to the Tour he wants to be 150%, which is impossible now. He says he was getting sicker the first days after the positive covid test. He wasn't able to ride a bike for 10 days, and after his Giro peak, it wouldn't be possible to get the same level for the Tour.

Google translated article:

Evenepoel is klaar voor rentree, maar rijdt Tour niet: "Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België" | sporza

Na een fysiek en mentaal moeilijke periode kan Remco Evenepoel weer aan koersen denken. Daags voor de start deelt de wereldkampioen zijn beweegredenen om naar Zwitserland te trekken. En waarom hij "absoluut nee" zegt tegen de Tour: "Als ik los in eerste bergrit, ontploft er een bom in België."

sporza-be.translate.goog

 

[Andy schleck]

as Daniel Friebe said (and I paraphrase): "When Pog races, he seems like a cyclist, just better than everyone else in almost every aspect. When Remco races, it's as if he is doing a different sport from everyone else."

You are trying really hard to take the statute of remco fanboy n°1 from @houtdffan .

Who the hell is daniel friebe? Nobody cares.

 

[houtdffan]

I understand Remco's thinking

However, if he wins TDS by 3-4 minutes, then hope he reconsiders. He may not need to be 150% to win the TDF. After all, the three days he was obviously sick with Covid, he still managed to take time out of Rog, the Giro winner

 

[theyoungest]

Evenepoel explains why going to the Tour was never an option after his DNF in the Giro. There is no way for him to start without major expectations and when he goes to the Tour he wants to be 150%, which is impossible now. He says he was getting sicker the first days after the positive covid test. He wasn't able to ride a bike for 10 days, and after his Giro peak, it wouldn't be possible to get the same level for the Tour.

Google translated article:

Evenepoel is klaar voor rentree, maar rijdt Tour niet: "Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België" | sporza

Na een fysiek en mentaal moeilijke periode kan Remco Evenepoel weer aan koersen denken. Daags voor de start deelt de wereldkampioen zijn beweegredenen om naar Zwitserland te trekken. En waarom hij "absoluut nee" zegt tegen de Tour: "Als ik los in eerste bergrit, ontploft er een bom in België."

sporza-be.translate.goog

I get where he's coming from, but if there's ever a chance for him to ride the Tour with less pressure, this is it. The problem with his current approach (I'll only ride the Tour if I'm absolutely 100%) is that when he eventually does ride the Tour, the expectations will be sky high, maybe unrealistically high. The pressure only becomes bigger, not less. I think Tom Dumoulin also said something along those lines in the Sporza cycling podcast.

 

[Oldermanish]

Evenepoel explains why going to the Tour was never an option after his DNF in the Giro. There is no way for him to start without major expectations and when he goes to the Tour he wants to be 150%, which is impossible now. He says he was getting sicker the first days after the positive covid test. He wasn't able to ride a bike for 10 days, and after his Giro peak, it wouldn't be possible to get the same level for the Tour.

Google translated article:

Evenepoel is klaar voor rentree, maar rijdt Tour niet: "Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België" | sporza

Na een fysiek en mentaal moeilijke periode kan Remco Evenepoel weer aan koersen denken. Daags voor de start deelt de wereldkampioen zijn beweegredenen om naar Zwitserland te trekken. En waarom hij "absoluut nee" zegt tegen de Tour: "Als ik los in eerste bergrit, ontploft er een bom in België."

sporza-be.translate.goog

That down period would virtually undo all altitude adaptation so his choice was a sound one.

 

[kingjr]

Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België

That is such a sad thing to hear.

 

[Big Doopie]

You are trying really hard to take the statute of remco fanboy n°1 from @houtdffan .

Who the hell is daniel friebe? Nobody cares.

funny.

clearly, you are ill-informed about cycling in general.

though i kinda knew that all along considering your choice of moniker. demonstrating your inability to judge natural talent.

now on ignore.

have a great life. cheerio!

 

[Andy schleck]

funny.

clearly, you are ill-informed about cycling in general.

though i kinda knew that all along considering your choice of moniker. clearly demonstrating your inability to judge real cycling.

now on ignore.

have a great life. cheerio!

Bye daniel friebe.

 

[Rackham]

Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België

That is such a sad thing to hear.

And if he prepares exclusively for the TdF 2024 & Vingegaard still wallops Evenepoel in the mountains, it'll be a thousand times worse because Belgium will be really, really expecting a top result next year.

I completely understand absolutely every reason given 'why' Evenepoel isn't going to the Tour 2023, i.e. reasons relating to going deep for his Giro prep & getting sick, but the part about Belgium's reaction if he does badly in the Tour... needs addressing within his team & inner circle.

It's negative pressure.

 

[Extinction]

I get where he's coming from, but if there's ever a chance for him to ride the Tour with less pressure, this is it. The problem with his current approach (I'll only ride the Tour if I'm absolutely 100%) is that when he eventually does ride the Tour, the expectations will be sky high, maybe unrealistically high. The pressure only becomes bigger, not less. I think Tom Dumoulin also said something along those lines in the Sporza cycling podcast.

I can't believe how Soudal is managing him. He doesn't want to upset the team plans? For what? So Lulu can go for a couple of stage wins? Is this a team that hopes to assist Remco in winning the Tour some day or what? He should be the priority in July or do they not understand that you can't go from stage hunters to GC leaders in France overnight? And as you say, when he goes all in the pressure will be 100 times greater in Belgium. It's absurd he's not being prepared at the Grand Bouclé like the young Lemond was, which took him three attempts to win it.

 

[Sciatic]

I can't believe how Soudal is managing him. He doesn't want to upset the team plans? For what? So Lulu can go for a couple of stage wins? Is this is a team that hopes to assist Remco in winning the Tour some day or what? He should be the priority in July or do they not understand that you can't go from stage hunters to GC leaders in France overnight? And as you say, when he goes all in the pressure will be 100 times greater in Belgium. It's absurd he's not being prepared at the Grand Bouclé like the young Lemond was, which took him three attempts to win it.

Re: Lemond, he was able to win it on his 2nd attempt, but the team wouldn’t let him. But it’s a different era in terms of how teams bring top talent along for GTs.

 

[houtdffan]

Re: Lemond, he was able to win it on his 2nd attempt, but the team wouldn’t let him. But it’s a different era in terms of how teams bring top talent along for GTs.

not accurate at all

Hinault broke his nose trying to slow the peloton for Lemond to gain time. Then on the Luz Ardiden stage, Lemond never had that big of a lead. It was only 1:15 at the Tourmalet

Lemond was told to attack Roche, but he wasn't willing or able to.

If Lemond were strong enough, he would have dropped Roche when Roche flatted on Luz Ardiden

 

[Big Doopie]

not accurate at all

Hinault broke his nose trying to slow the peloton for Lemond to gain time. Then on the Luz Ardiden stage, Lemond never had that big of a lead. It was only 1:15 at the Tourmalet

Lemond was told to attack Roche, but he wasn't willing or able to.

If Lemond were strong enough, he would have dropped Roche when Roche flatted on Luz Ardiden

not accurate at all

hinault crashed in a sprint at St. Etienne (amongst a whole group of favorites that included LeMond) - he blamed Anderson. he was not trying to slow the peloton for LeMond to gain time at all.

LeMond was not told to attack Roche. He was told many times that Hinault was just 30 seconds-1 minute behind and closing fast. He was told to wait.

whether LeMond could have threatened Hinault without Hinault's crash (and riding on a different team) is debatable at best. LeMond has said that he revered LeMond as a "big brother", even a "surrogate father figure" and that Hinault was really good to him in his early years, taking him under his wing. However, it also meant that LeMond was slow to understand that Hinault now perceived LeMond as a threat and wanted to win for himself.

 

[entre nous]

Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België

That is such a sad thing to hear.

Indeed, where's the joy? I feel sorry for this kid

 

[houtdffan]

not accurate at all

hinault crashed in a sprint at St. Etienne (amongst a whole group of favorites that included LeMond) - he blamed Anderson. he was not trying to slow the peloton for LeMond to gain time at all.

LeMond was not told to attack Roche. He was told many times that Hinault was just 30 seconds-1 minute behind and closing fast. He was told to wait.

whether LeMond could have threatened Hinault without Hinault's crash (and riding on a different team) is debatable at best. LeMond has said that he revered LeMond as a "big brother", even a "surrogate father figure" and that Hinault was really good to him in his early years, taking him under his wing. However, it also meant that LeMond was slow to understand that Hinault now perceived LeMond as a threat and wanted to win for himself.

Watch Slaying the Badger. Kochli clearly states Lemond was told not to ride with Roche, but he was free to attack Roche

Hinault was only about 1 minute behind Lemond. Lemond is LYING. Yes, he got bogus info from a CBS cameraman in real time. However, the edited post processed CBS footbage clearly stated Lemond was only ever about a minute ahead

Here is the post processed cbs telecast

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZY9287pYZM

 

[Berniece]

Want als ik los in bergen, ontploft er bom in België

That is such a sad thing to hear.

Sporza doesn’t quote him completely, which is weird. In HLN the quote is:

En als je nu eens zonder ambitie was gestart in de Tour, gewoon proberen een rit te winnen…
“Dan was België wellicht te klein geweest, wanneer ik er in de eerste bergrit word afgereden. Alsof er een bom zou ontploffen, denk ik. Het is makkelijk zeggen, maar voor de renner die ik ben is het onmogelijk om zonder verwachtingen naar de Tour te trekken. En hoe zou dat dan aankomen bij de renners die nu al maanden bezig zijn met hun Tour-voorbereiding? Dat zou niet heel eerlijk zijn, wanneer ik zomaar door hun voorbereiding kom fietsen. We hebben erover gesproken, maar we waren er snel uit dat de Tour geen optie was.”

So a bit more nuanced

 

[Panda Claws]

I can't help but wonder that is something that Lefevre etc. kind of convinced him of there being a massive drama if he were dropped.

There is often such a disconnect between what riders feel their expectations are and how we actually look at it. Then again I would hope that nobody on this forum is the type to actually start messaging riders on their socials about what pan-sies (can't believe this got censored) they are when they get dropped.

Ah well, probably a lot of pro's read this forum anyway. It's clear that many journalists do and I don't know if there is a similar forum out there.

Wielerflits lmao

 

[Red Rick]

I can't help but wonder that is something that Lefevre etc. kind of convinced him of there being a massive drama if he were dropped.

There is often such a disconnect between what riders feel their expectations are and how we actually look at it. Then again I would hope that nobody on this forum is the type to actually start messaging riders on their socials about what pan-sies (can't believe this got censored) they are when they get dropped.

Ah well, probably a lot of pro's read this forum anyway. It's clear that many journalists do and I don't know if there is a similar forum out there.

Wielerflits lmao

It's just an echo chamber in my opinion.

And Evenepoel himself has helped build that echo chamber as well.

 

[Riek s]

I understand Remco's thinking

However, if he wins TDS by 3-4 minutes, then hope he reconsiders. He may not need to be 150% to win the TDF. After all, the three days he was obviously sick with Covid, he still managed to take time out of Rog, the Giro winner

Sure, but just winning TDS might be a stretch, let alone winning with minutes.