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

[Big Doopie]

Lol.

Remco is nothing like Nibali. I do not get the comparison.

Remco will have a far greater career even if he never again wins a GT.

It’s not even close.

 

[peterfin]

It makes sense to compare Nibali at a later age with Remco. Today youngsters of 20-23 years old train like pro's with optimized data-enhanced schedules and tools but that only started recently. However, even if we account for that and say that Nibali at 22-24 is comparable with Remco at 19 there is a significant difference. Nibali had 20-30 wins 5 years later while Remco has 50.

 

[Berniece]

And unlike Skjelmose, you believe Evenepoel will have a career trajectory with a similar shape as that of Nibali?

As in growth you mean? I believe there's still some room to grow for him, yes. I can definitely see him improve the following years. We can even see a difference between 2022 and 2023. His acceleration and time trialing improved, although the case could be made that this wasn't that great for his climbing skills. That's something we unfortunately can't know for sure due to covid in Giro. In the Vuelta I don't believe he was going to be able to follow Vingegaard/Roglic on Angliru but there were multiple things wrong with his preparation for the Vuelta anyway.

 

[hayneplane]

Nibali raced against exceptional riders, as well, and he is one himself.

Can’t really say that about his Grand Tour wins. Only Valverde (twice), Evans and Sastre plus Scarponi officially were Grand Tour winners during their career that finished in the top 10 behind Nibali.

By contrast Froome won the 2015 Tour de France beating a top 5 who all won grand tours. 2-5 was Quintana, Valverde, Nibali, Contador which is about as stacked as it gets this century.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He won Lombardia twice.
Having won 3 monuments is not a bad result for a GT rider.

I said he never was close except in his 3 wins

 

[Peyroteo94]

I don‘t know what people are smoking in this thread, after „GT winner isn‘t a GT rider“, we now get „MSR winner didn‘t have the skillset to win MSR“. Is Sepp Kuss a GC rider? Obviously yes.
Did Gerald Ciolek have what it takes to win MSR? Yes.

Sorry but what a stupid post. Oscar Pereiro won a Tour and for that reason his skillset is more suited to GT's than a rider like Quintana who never won a Tour?

 

[ALC]

This thread is so much fun!!! 😂
So, after several pages debating if Remco will surpass Nibaldi GTs performances (the odds of this happening being above 99 pct), how about if we discuss the Remco vs Froome situation:
- what are the odds that Remco GT career will be better than Froome’s?

 

[peterfin]

This thread is so much fun!!! 😂
So, after several pages debating if Remco will surpass Nibaldi GTs performances (the odds of this happening being above 99 pct), how about if we discuss the Remco vs Froome situation:
- what are the odds that Remco GT career will be better than Froome’s?

The quick answer: Remco won't win 4 TdF's (95% confidence) and Froome neither if he would be riding against the current competition in a team like SQS (95% confidence).

 

[Red Rick]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider? He's basically uniquely unlike any other rider.

What I'm also surprised by is the overwhelming sentiment that he had a good Vuelta. Like "oh if not for the one bad day he could've battled the Jumbo guys". He went in with the expectation to show his GC level compared to Roglic and Vingegaard and failed that test with flying colors, even if his preperation wasn't the best.

 

[Salvarani]

Can’t really say that about his Grand Tour wins. Only Valverde (twice), Evans and Sastre plus Scarponi officially were Grand Tour winners during their career that finished in the top 10 behind Nibali.

By contrast Froome won the 2015 Tour de France beating a top 5 who all won grand tours. 2-5 was Quintana, Valverde, Nibali, Contador which is about as stacked as it gets this century.

So your point is he did race against the riders I mentioned, thank you. All exceptional in different ways and legends of the sport.

 

[topcat]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider? He's basically uniquely unlike any other rider.

What I'm also surprised by is the overwhelming sentiment that he had a good Vuelta. Like "oh if not for the one bad day he could've battled the Jumbo guys". He went in with the expectation to show his GC level compared to Roglic and Vingegaard and failed that test with flying colors, even if his preperation wasn't the best.

He didn’t have a good vuelta. A good vuelta would have been at least a podium despite his bad prep. However, after his collapse on stage 13, he did well to win the Kom and two more stages and animate the race. These were only consolation prizes. His next gt will probably be the tour next year. We honestly don’t know what to expect from him there. But first, Lombardia.
This is a strange part of the season, it’s all but over, MVDP already has the Topcat d’Or trophy, but we’re waiting for one last big dig out in Italy.

 

[peterfin]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider? He's basically uniquely unlike any other rider.

What I'm also surprised by is the overwhelming sentiment that he had a good Vuelta. Like "oh if not for the one bad day he could've battled the Jumbo guys". He went in with the expectation to show his GC level compared to Roglic and Vingegaard and failed that test with flying colors, even if his preperation wasn't the best.

He didn't have a good Vuelta and he wouldn't be on the same level of JV without that collapse. His stage wins were encouraging and nice to watch. That's the only good part. He made most of it after his bad day but winning the GC (or at least end on the podium) was his main target. Maybe we need a poll to check if most think his Vuelta was good because I do not have that impression? Especially because at least halve of the people in this thread are focussed on minimizing his performance and results.

 

[Valanga]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider? He's basically uniquely unlike any other rider.

What I'm also surprised by is the overwhelming sentiment that he had a good Vuelta. Like "oh if not for the one bad day he could've battled the Jumbo guys". He went in with the expectation to show his GC level compared to Roglic and Vingegaard and failed that test with flying colors, even if his preperation wasn't the best.

Where do you even see that overwhelming sentiment? Because I don't see it. Not in this topic, not in the press - Belgian or not.

 

[Nick2413]

Where do you even see that overwhelming sentiment? Because I don't see it. Not in this topic, not in the press - Belgian or not.

If viewers listen to guys like Kirby saying Remco rose out of the ashes on those breakaway wins then it’s out there. I don’t think serious fans who understand the sport feel that way but the idea that he had one “unlucky” bad day and was indubitably strong otherwise is probably not too uncommon.

 

[Elos Anjos]

This thread is so much fun!!! 😂
So, after several pages debating if Remco will surpass Nibaldi GTs performances (the odds of this happening being above 99 pct), how about if we discuss the Remco vs Froome situation:
- what are the odds that Remco GT career will be better than Froome’s?

Yes, sometimes it feels a bit like a visit to a cuckoo's nest.

 

[Extinction]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider? He's basically uniquely unlike any other rider.

What I'm also surprised by is the overwhelming sentiment that he had a good Vuelta. Like "oh if not for the one bad day he could've battled the Jumbo guys". He went in with the expectation to show his GC level compared to Roglic and Vingegaard and failed that test with flying colors, even if his preperation wasn't the best.

Right, he caved in, as they say, both physically and mentally. On that day he was broken, what this means for the future I don't know. But he'll have to get it together at some point, if he wants to win the Tour. As in, first and foremost, don't announce to the world that you plan on giving away the jersey. It doesn't matter if you have guys in the break of 40 strong, it's uncontrollable, and you end up getting f-uk-ed and then you break down.

 

[Andre]

Ok so it's on to Lombardia. He should be the favourite. Go Remco Go!

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

He didn’t have a good vuelta. A good vuelta would have been at least a podium despite his bad prep

He didn't have bad prep.

 

[Berniece]

Ok so it's on to Lombardia. He should be the favourite. Go Remco Go!

One of the favourites, Roglic and Pogacar are also racing

 

[ManicJack]

He didn't have bad prep.

It wasn't ideal, but certainly not bad.

 

[Oldermanish]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider? He's basically uniquely unlike any other rider.

What I'm also surprised by is the overwhelming sentiment that he had a good Vuelta. Like "oh if not for the one bad day he could've battled the Jumbo guys". He went in with the expectation to show his GC level compared to Roglic and Vingegaard and failed that test with flying colors, even if his preperation wasn't the best.

You're correct. It also doesn't mean he has no upside as we've discussed ad-nauseum everything about his preparation. Maybe now his handlers and promoters will take the realistic look at how a GT suits him vs. the obvious competitive strengths he has. Competition is getting deeper on all fronts so he does need to move on this soon.

 

[AmRacer]

It wasn't ideal, but certainly not bad.

Did the top 10 have ideal preparation?

 

[ManicJack]

Did the top 10 have ideal preparation?

You tell me 🤷

 

[Netserk]

He didn't have bad prep.

If only he had done the Giro in full and the Tour (with a bad crash in stage 20), I'm sure he would have been better than ever!

 

[topcat]

If only he had done the Giro in full and the Tour (with a bad crash in stage 20), I'm sure he would have been better than ever!

If only he didn’t train specifically for the worlds itt and then do a mish-mash altitude session before the vuelta. He might not make it as a consistent gt winner or he might.
I’m not a fan, I’m fairly neutral on him, but I do think he’s more exciting than some.
Why don’t you like him?