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

[Netserk]

Funny how it’s dropping when it’s riders you don’t like and it’s not dropping because the other rider is so far behind for those that you do like. It was in Evenepoel’s interests for Mas to get closer to Roglic and become a threat. Did Roglic himself then drop and ride away at the end, yes. After Evenepoel and his teammate decided to set the pace.

So how many riders did he choose to get dropped by?

 

[Rackham]

Now he should ride with the favorites group for the rest of this Vuelta, i.e. he can go for stage wins if & when there's an opportunity in a mountain stage by attacking from the actual main bunch (like his win in Andorra).

It would have a lot more value going forwards rather than chasing statistics in breakaways. Without anything wrong with him (no illness etc.) he should try to ride the Angliru with Jonas V & co. Just to see what happens & see what he's capable of.

 

[HelloDolly]

The best thing for Remco could do now is to ride around with the top GC guys ala Zubeldia.

He has shown everyone he can win a MTF from a break, he can TT , he can climb , he is very fast on uphill finishes , etc

Now try and learn to be an anonymous participant . Learn not to be the centre of attention . Learn how to be calm and in the shadows

He went from a child to a top pro and nothing in between. He hasn't a clue who he is if not wining or trying to win ...and he bottled yesterday because of it I think. He needs some maturity and mental toughness

Ride the rest of the Vuelta without expectation , sit in the 'failure' of yesterday and learn from it ...a bit of humility wouldnt go amiss. The constant need to prove himself oozes from his every pore. How tiring for him and how much pressure

But this wont happen ...no one will let him , least of all himself


.

 

[red_flanders]

I love how you like to bring up Roglic when no one is talking about him. I hope you’re not one of those guys that are complaining when people bring up Remco in non-Remco relevant threads and discussions.

I don’t know why people are tempted to respond to such idiocy. Let ‘em drift in the wind looking like fools. It’s plenty.

 

[red_flanders]

The best thing for Remco could do now is to ride around with the top GC guys ala Zubeldia.

He has shown everyone he can win a MTF from a break, he can TT , he can climb , he is very fast on uphill finishes , etc

Now try and learn to be an anonymous participant . Learn not to be the centre of attention . Learn how to be calm and in the shadows

He went from a child to a top pro and nothing in between. He hasn't a clue who he is if not wining or trying to win ...and he bottled yesterday because of it I think. He needs some maturity and mental toughness

Ride the rest of the Vuelta without expectation , sit in the 'failure' of yesterday and learn from it ...a bit of humility wouldnt go amiss. The constant need to prove himself oozes from his every pore. How tiring for him and how much pressure

But this wont happen ...no one will let him , least of all himself


.

I can’t say how thankful I am that I’m 100% sure such pathetic thoughts will not enter his head for a moment.

To advocate for the self-neutering of one of the most exciting riders of this century…just mind boggling.

 

[nightowl]

The best thing for Remco could do now is to ride around with the top GC guys ala Zubeldia.

He has shown everyone he can win a MTF from a break, he can TT , he can climb , he is very fast on uphill finishes , etc

Now try and learn to be an anonymous participant . Learn not to be the centre of attention . Learn how to be calm and in the shadows

He went from a child to a top pro and nothing in between. He hasn't a clue who he is if not wining or trying to win ...and he bottled yesterday because of it I think. He needs some maturity and mental toughness

Ride the rest of the Vuelta without expectation , sit in the 'failure' of yesterday and learn from it ...a bit of humility wouldnt go amiss. The constant need to prove himself oozes from his every pore. How tiring for him and how much pressure

But this wont happen ...no one will let him , least of all himself


.

I’ve never heard of a cycling fan complaining that a rider should ride more boringly 😭

 

[RedheadDane]

Great to see him bounce back after yesterday's disappointment.

 

[houtdffan]

Now he should ride with the favorites group for the rest of this Vuelta, i.e. he can go for stage wins if & when there's an opportunity in a mountain stage by attacking from the actual main bunch (like his win in Andorra).

It would have a lot more value going forwards rather than chasing statistics in breakaways. Without anything wrong with him (no illness etc.) he should try to ride the Angliru with Jonas V & co. Just to see what happens & see what he's capable of.

would rather he do that the day before. The stage 16 MTF is very hard. On the Angliru stage, I'd rather Remco attack on the first climb and wrap up the KOM, maybe staying away to get the stage

 

[saunaking]

Now he should ride with the favorites group for the rest of this Vuelta, i.e. he can go for stage wins if & when there's an opportunity in a mountain stage by attacking from the actual main bunch (like his win in Andorra).

It would have a lot more value going forwards rather than chasing statistics in breakaways. Without anything wrong with him (no illness etc.) he should try to ride the Angliru with Jonas V & co. Just to see what happens & see what he's capable of.

I don't disagree, but if he attacks from the GC group with a few k to go, everybody will just say they let him go because he is not a threat

 

[Unchained]

Remco put on a show, he stayed on top of a huge gear start to finish.. Had a sewing machine leg cadence going uphill, he acted like a complete gentleman w Bardet who he could have dropped at will.
He also was crushed at the finish when he went on the emotional rollercoaster of getting spanked for @25 minutes and today crossing the line and knowing he could have gone faster. I really hope he goes on the hunt again and if he can take back 8 minutes at a time, all teams will need to answer even his most minor jump. Can't wait to see who he attacks next, when and why, but w legs like his he can move up again.. Don't know if he has a solo 8 minutes planned for tomorrow but it may come again before this is over..

 

[jmdirt]

So bad one day, stage winner the next?

 

[Oldermanish]

This was a bit perplexing and maybe he doesn’t even understand it, but nice to see Remco having some redemption. Much better than throwing in the towel and leaving or just riding in the peloton to Madrid.

He's too good to stew in his own disappointment. That, and he needs to work at contesting the upcoming hill stages if he hopes to be a preeminent GT rider even if it's painful. It will be but finishing 3 weeks is good for the form and confidence.

 

[awavey]

Low glycogen yesterday? This is something you can come back in 24h. Especially when you're chilling for half a stage.

Really though ? A 27min drop is a bit more than just low glycogen & how come the teams nutritionists aren't on top of that anyway. Plus you still expend the energy finishing yesterday's stage however bad or good you feel.

Yes you can have a bad day on the bike, but...you don't normally turn it round to a be stage winning, unless the stage is really unusual.

 

[Berniece]

Okay, the day he chose to drop.

Oh you mean 2 days after his crash, known as the most difficult day after a crash. That same Mas that couldn’t drop him anymore in any other stage later in the Vuelta. Great point…

 

[Nick2413]

He's too good to stew in his own disappointment. That, and he needs to work at contesting the upcoming hill stages if he hopes to be a preeminent GT rider even if it's painful. It will be but finishing 3 weeks is good for the form and confidence.

I hope he chooses that path rather than focusing on breakaways. Will make the rest of the race much more interesting.

 

[Mayo from Mayo]

So bad one day, stage winner the next?

Change the thread title to Remco Evenepoel is the next Thomas De Gendt,

 

[Netserk]

Oh you mean 2 days after his crash, known as the most difficult day after a crash. That same Mas that couldn’t drop him anymore in any other stage later in the Vuelta. Great point…

I didn't bring said stage up, where he was dropped by Mas whom he lost time to across all mountain stages.

 

[Ulle97]

I feel that Remco had a mental collapse yesterday than anything else. I take the point that he wasn't having the best legs on the Aubisque as he said himself.

However I think he lacked the stomach or appetite to continue battling with the Jumbo machine for another week and a half.

There's no way he was 27mins worse than the leaders yday. But he sensed he wouldn't be able to keep up for the whole stage and decided to just let the gap go. Instead of burying himself trying to stay within a few mins of the leaders I feel he took a decision on the Aubisque to resign himself to stage hunting and let the GC dream go.

I don't think for a second that there is anything dishonourable in what he did. Fighting whilst enormously outnumbered against this Jumbo machine is a mammoth task that even Pogacar cannot deal with.

Best of luck Remco in the remaining stages. Already 2 stages in the bag plus a few days in the leaders jersey is more than what many ever achieve.

 

[frisenfruitig]

We have already seen last year that he can ride a GT without having a complete off day. All this talk about how he needs to prove he is an actual GC rider is absurd. He is already better than most GC guys.

 

[topcat]

I didn't bring said stage up, where he was dropped by Mas whom he lost time to across all mountain stages.

🐕 with a 🦴

 

[GroupDK]

Precarious level of flipped form in just 20 hours, though a beautiful comeback when all is said and done, even though it was the last one you had expected with such an inferior level just 20 hours before.. but its been quite obvious that Remco can't hold with the best when they are kicking it as we also saw on stage6 where he dropped quite fast, but there he was able to maintain the loss quite well.

 

[Berniece]

I didn't bring said stage up, where he was dropped by Mas whom he lost time to across all mountain stages.

Because of his crash

 

[stekelegel]

the problem with Remco is that he can ride with the top riders any given day, but he is prone to having a day sans juice, getting sick, … if he wants to win GT against the best he needs to change a lot:
- an optimum preparation: last years vuelta and this years giro remco looked stronger than in this race
- a better team: sadly, he most of all needs a top team. in the race and outside of it. Quickstep will always na something of a hassle
- a better attitude, more relaxed. Some of vinges infinite boredom….
- a parcours better suited to his capabilities
And then he might have a chance….

 

[Andre]

Hope he targets the Angliru now.

Or the KOM and green jersey.

They asked him about the green jersey in the interview...I think he said he's not too interested in the green. It was great watching him win today. I felt very bad when he said he cried all night and then he broke down from emotions at the arrival today. He is truly the most interesting rider in a very long time. Glad to see him smile today also.

 

[Big Doopie]

@stekelegel good analysis.

A few observations of my own:

1. A few days ago, I posted that he looked tired and seemed to lack confidence and I felt he would likely ship many minutes in one of the upcoming stages. My guess is that he (and his team) already knew that was a possibility. After all, they do have ways of scientifically registering how someone is recovering. My guess is that is what played into the decision to slow his team up on the last climb a few days ago and not compete for the bonuses, etc. the next day. They were hoping he would recover in time.
2. Haven't heard from anyone anymore saying that he should have ridden the TDF this year right after Covid just for the experience. At the time I suggested that he would learn much more from trying to be at the front at the Vuelta instead. Which experience do we think he will have gained more from? Rhetorical. Rhetorical.
3. For those saying they won't allow him in the break again. LOL many times over. When has he ever needed to "be allowed"? Sure it will get more difficult only because some riders will not work with him (but they hardly did today) and if he ever gets back to threatening a top ten rider, perhaps that team will be put to work, but, c'mon now, if he maintains this type of form (like today), does he really need to be "allowed" to win stage 20? Let's be real.
4. I never understood the commentators saying that Bardet might try to sneak one over Remco. They like each other. They were often chatting with each other throughout. Bardet has previously been quoted as saying how much he admires him and finds him approachable and humble. It is interesting that two of the nicest riders (Bardet and Pinot) have both commented on the same thing. And Bardet's full interview is really worth watching: "C'est quelqu'un que j'apprecie beaucoup."
5. While I think questions about his climbing ability are silly, I totally agree that his ability to recover/not have a bad day in a GT is utterly in question.
6. Yesterday and today only cemented his place as the most interesting and exciting rider of this age (maybe any age).

one more pro win to get to 50 before merckx or pog did. ;-)

lombardia was always the next big goal anyway!