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

[Extinction]

the world ITT was not bad training for the longer climbs because it was so long itself, it was a similar length effort as those climbs.

he himself appeared relieved that he was able to do this at high altitude, however.

we'll see. the longer climbs in succession is definitely a question and where Vingo rules. but he keeps answering the questions one by one...

and the 20+% gradients of Angliru where his aero skin will not be such an advantage. Bwahahaha. skeletor could definitely still rule the roost.

Similar in length of effort and wattage, but with the added obstacle of gravity, which makes putting out the watts a different scenario. There pushing high power to a lower weight ratio is the deciding factor. He has huge exams coming.

 

[peterfin]

the world ITT was not bad training for the longer climbs because it was so long itself, it was a similar length effort as those climbs.

he himself appeared relieved that he was able to do this at high altitude, however.

we'll see. the longer climbs in succession is definitely a question and where Vingo rules. but he keeps answering the questions one by one...

and the 20+% gradients of Angliru where his aero skin will not be such an advantage. Bwahahaha. skeletor could definitely still rule the roost.

By the time the Angliru comes so much drama has happened that skeletor will be too exhausted to make his move. And it's not only due to the unpredictable race where danger lurks around every corner. Tonight he will have nightmares of Remco who yells at him with an angry, bloody face!

 

[jmdirt]

Great little kick to the line there Remco!

 

[Cookster15]

It’s just an inkling, but I am starting to think I’d enjoy seeing Remco upstage Skeletor and it might be possible. I still think it would be difficult for Vingo to match his TdF level this Vuelta. But Vingo still has Roglic up his sleeve - Jumbo might well be planning an ambush. We will see.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Excellent start to this Vuelta. He rode smartly (before the finish) and his acceleration was impressive. The team also did well. You can always count on Vervaeke, an underrated rider.

Of course the Vuelta is still very long. The course is tougher and the opposition stronger than last year. It's clear where the danger will come from. That stage to the Tourmalet will be the biggest challenge he's faced as a GT rider. And of course the Angliru is lurking around the corner. It's such a pity that there's only one short ITT.

Giving the red jersey away would be good, but the other teams might not let it happen. Last year it didn't happen and he ended up wearing red for two and a half weeks. Ideal would be if he could give it to someone like Caruso, Bardet or... his future teammate Landa!

 

[Bolder]

Excellent start to this Vuelta. He rode smartly (before the finish) and his acceleration was impressive. The team also did well. You can always count on Vervaeke, an underrated rider.

Of course the Vuelta is still very long. The course is tougher and the opposition stronger than last year. It's clear where the danger will come from. That stage to the Tourmalet will be the biggest challenge he's faced as a GT rider. And of course the Angliru is lurking around the corner. It's such a pity that there's only one short ITT.

Giving the red jersey away would be good, but the other teams might not let it happen. Last year it didn't happen and he ended up wearing red for two and a half weeks. Ideal would be if he could give it to someone like Caruso, Bardet or... his future teammate Landa!

The more I think about it, yesterday was his best GT stage ever. Beating Vingegaard et al, even if it wasn't from an attack, was super impressive. I might switch to Team Remco from Team Primoz.

 

[Netserk]

The more I think about it, yesterday was his best GT stage ever. Beating Vingegaard et al, even if it wasn't from an attack, was super impressive. I might switch to Team Remco from Team Primoz.

I think at least two of his ITTs were better.

 

[Volderke]

It surprises me a bit that Jumbo didn't try more to work him over, but I think two factors were against Jumbo:
1. the headwind, making an attack hard and risky;
2. Roglic maybe not having good legs, so if Vingegaard would attack and Remco would follow, then Jumbo would actively have ruined their two-prong attacking chances in the coming stages. And Vingegaard also said he wasn't on his best.

Given Remco's sprint, he could have taken more time by going even earlier, but as there was headwind, the further = the more risky to not get any daylight and having 10 riders overtaking you in the last stretch.

 

[Jagartrott]

The biggest risks for Evenepoel are:
* crashing (more) - he has an above average crash probability, and last year it definitely affected his performance
* fading due to imperfect preparation; there are several hard stages in the last week where minutes can be lost quite easily when not near your best
* Jumbo and UAE not cancelling each other out (like yesterday), but working together against Evenepoel

What he showed yesterday was very good, but it's not saying that much either, at the same time.

 

[Volderke]

The biggest risks for Evenepoel are:
* crashing (more) - he has an above average crash probability, and last year it definitely affected his performance
* fading due to imperfect preparation; there are several hard stages in the last week where minutes can be lost quite easily when not near your best
* Jumbo and UAE not cancelling each other out (like yesterday), but working together against Evenepoel

What he showed yesterday was very good, but it's not saying that much either, at the same time.

It's still Jumbo's race to lose, imho.
When you can already see the massive potential in stage 3 of Jumbo attacking one by one:
They still had Kuss and Kelderman the moment SQS had none, so if Jumbo saves those 2 riders and they aren't too far after the TT, Remco has 4 Jumbo riders to cover. Even if they only save Roglic and Vingegaard, it's already a massive task to counter attacks of those two. Remco has to be stronger but by a margin if he wants to win this. Stronger by just a couple % won't be enough if Jumbo plays this smart.

 

[Extinction]

It's still Jumbo's race to lose, imho.
When you can already see the massive potential in stage 3 of Jumbo attacking one by one:
They still had Kuss and Kelderman the moment SQS had none, so if Jumbo saves those 2 riders and they aren't too far after the TT, Remco has 4 Jumbo riders to cover. Even if they only save Roglic and Vingegaard, it's already a massive task to counter attacks of those two. Remco has to be stronger but by a margin if he wants to win this. Stronger by just a couple % won't be enough if Jumbo plays this smart.

It could be that Roglic, at his age, simply doesn't have another high end performance in his legs this season. He won the Giro, but only because of the strength of his final TT performance, which, while impressive, was against an even older fading Thomas. Previously during the Giro, Roglic was not dominant. Yet he won every SR he has participated in: Mr. 100%, but this could be too much. As for Vingo, he says he isn't in top shape, which means either he has a margin for growth or he does not, because he already had his monster peak at the Tour. Is it possible he reaches that level again in the third week of this Vuelta or is it more likely that he can only hope to remain steady and not fade? Only time will tell. As for Remco, this too is his second major peak, however, unlike Roglic or Vingo, he did not go through the whole GT of the first and thus should not have experienced the physical fatigue the others have. I think, in any case, the Tourmalet stage will tell us who can win this Vuelta, not forgetting the outsiders, Ayuso chief amongst them.

 

[Bolder]

I think at least two of his ITTs were better.

I meant in a road stage. I was pretty sure that he'd be gapped on Arinsal when it got really steep.

Actually you could argue his ITT win in the Giro this year when he had covid was pretty great, too, even if he only eked out the win.

He has really become a complete rider this year, only thing to maybe work on is descending but now that he has a kick, you can't count on dropping him in the final 500 meters or so. His form right now vs Vingegaard/Roglic and at the start of the Giro reinforces my belief that he should have done the Tour this year instead of, I assume, next.

 

[houtdffan]

It's still Jumbo's race to lose, imho.
When you can already see the massive potential in stage 3 of Jumbo attacking one by one:
They still had Kuss and Kelderman the moment SQS had none, so if Jumbo saves those 2 riders and they aren't too far after the TT, Remco has 4 Jumbo riders to cover. Even if they only save Roglic and Vingegaard, it's already a massive task to counter attacks of those two. Remco has to be stronger but by a margin if he wants to win this. Stronger by just a couple % won't be enough if Jumbo plays this smart.

Or Remco goes full Pico Jano and blows everyone but Vingegaard off his wheel, negating the advantage Jumbo has

 

[houtdffan]

I meant in a road stage. I was pretty sure that he'd be gapped on Arinsal when it got really steep.

Actually you could argue his ITT win in the Giro this year when he had covid was pretty great, too, even if he only eked out the win.

He has really become a complete rider this year, only thing to maybe work on is descending but now that he has a kick, you can't count on dropping him in the final 500 meters or so. His form right now vs Vingegaard/Roglic and at the start of the Giro reinforces my belief that he should have done the Tour this year instead of, I assume, next.

Remco knew he couldn't win the tour based upon his Suisse form. He would have finished second or 3rd

 

[Volderke]

Or Remco goes full Pico Jano and blows everyone but Vingegaard off his wheel, negating the advantage Jumbo has

Well, even if Vingegaard is the only one around the same time, if Roglic is e.g. on a minute or even more, and Roglic attacks in mountain stages, Remco always has to cover him, with Vingegaard in the wheel. Jumbo can play the long game of attrition even better than in the Tour, ofcourse only if Roglic and Vingegaard are solid in terms of their level.

 

[Bolder]

Remco knew he couldn't win the tour based upon his Suisse form. He would have finished second or 3rd

Second or third world have been an incredible result. But I meant having the Tour as his main objective rather than the Giro. He would have been in better condition than in Suisse and probably not have had covid.

 

[Riek s]

The only thing that has changed for me is that he is in front of Roglic/vingegaard, while i expected him to be behind at this point. (TTT, 2nd stage roglfinish).

But tactically nothing much changed. It might even look a bit worse because UAE/JV were better yesterday than expected with 4 people at the end.
Hirt was good yesterday close the to the 4th of UAE/JV, so lets hope this at least continues. (But the climb yesterday was more tactical than pure power, so could be that when things go full throttle we might see a different picture).

But I still see JV as the biggest favorites for the vuelta.

 

[peterfin]

This explains why the crash yesterday was basically inevitable: https://sporza.be/nl/2023/08/28/hoe...tond-er-zo-veel-volk-op-straat~1693250787317/

 

[Berniece]

The only thing that has changed for me is that he is in front of Roglic/vingegaard, while i expected him to be behind at this point. (TTT, 2nd stage roglfinish).

Yeah, I expected the same. He's in a great position now though. He's already ahead +30s on JV so he can do a Roglic, and just stay in the wheel. I don't see Mas being able to drop Remco. Ayuso is a wild card, not sure how good he'll be this Vuelta.

If Remco is able to follow or even take time on Pico del Buitre, then it's smooth sailing to the TT, take some more time, and start the Tourmalet stage with a 2-3min lead.

 

[kingjr]

This explains why the crash yesterday was basically inevitable: https://sporza.be/nl/2023/08/28/hoe...tond-er-zo-veel-volk-op-straat~1693250787317/

This is the most relevant part:

"There's much more chaos here than, say, in the Tour de France," notes our man in Spain, Kristof Meul. "In the Tour, you know perfectly well what's allowed and what's not. Here, the rules change at the drop of a hat, often even during the stage. Just like yesterday..."

At 4 PM, he suddenly learned that there was no separate "mixed zone" provided. "Everyone was allowed to simply walk on the street after the finish," Meul explains. "In the Tour, only the soigneurs and the accredited media are allowed to stand there. Yesterday, suddenly everyone else was allowed to take their place there."

"Normally, a sea of people like this clears when a rider approaches, but this time it was very crowded after the finish. That woman didn't see Remco coming, and Remco didn't see those barriers behind the wall of people."

 

[Berniece]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1696558715543998914

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So Remco is clearly the new sheriff in town. Yesterday's post-stage images were reminiscent of peak bloody Hinault. He eclipses JV guys on and off the bike. The sheriff may face one more challenge though (when Grischa Niermann shouts the password activating YouKnowWho's megawatt program...)

 

[Riek s]

Looking at the coming stages, i don't really see a big opportunity for Remco to lose the leader jersey...

Someone close in GC won't get away (at least JV/UAE won't let it i assume) and 6, 8, 9 seem GC material/win. The only way it seems he can lose it is by being dropped by the other favorites....

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

...just checking in to see what Remco complained about today?

 

[ManicJack]

The only way it seems he can loose it is by being dropped by the other favorites....

Captain Obvious comment of the day.