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

[Blanco]

Evenpoel enjoyed last couple of seasons as the Belgium's best Grand Tour contender. This had some negative sides, such as the pressure of the Belgian press and public, and I think he crumbled over this pressure from time to time. I think next season it should be much easier for him, cause he'll be no longer Belgian top contender in those races, much better, natural climber is coming into scene, Cian Uijtdebroeks.
So I hope Remco will maybe perform better without this huge pressure he's carrying.

 

[Berniece]

No worse than the usual prep for Vuelta contenders.

Sure, I saw that Roglic also prepped first for the WC ITT

 

[peterfin]

No worse than the usual prep for Vuelta contenders.

Except for that demanding WC. Normally that is something you do after the Vuelta. I didn't check but I think the Vuelta top 10 was not present.

 

[Blanco]

Sure, I saw that Roglic also prepped first for the WC ITT

Roglic in 2021 rode the Tour, get injured, won the Olympic ITT, and still won the Vuelta.

 

[Netserk]

Sure, I saw that Roglic also prepped first for the WC ITT

This year he had a better prep than Evenepoel. That isn't the usual prep for Vuelta contenders. Just go over the list of the main contenders the past few years.

 

[Blanco]

Except for that demanding WC. Normally that is something you do after the Vuelta. I didn't check but I think the Vuelta top 10 was not present.

Almeida and Buitrago were present.
Kuss rode two Grand Tours as a prep.
Vingegaard and Landa rode Tour as a prep.
Mas crashed haevily at the Tour.
Ayuso crashed twice in his prep races for Vuelta.
Roglic, Vlasov and Uijtdebroeks had "so called" ideal prep.

 

[ManicJack]

Roglic in 2021 rode the Tour, get injured, won the Olympic ITT, and still won the Vuelta.

Que the, but the Olympics aren't the WCC in 3,2.....

 

[ppanther92]

what are the odds that Remco GT career will be better than Froome’s?

Zero

 

[Volderke]

Que the, but the Olympics aren't the WCC in 3,2.....

More like:
He won the Vuelta against Mas and Haig with a helper like Sepp Kuss.

He didn’t face a formidable team of any opponent like JV with Vingegaard and Roglic (and Kuss).

So I would say roglic 2021 had much worse competition compared to any non-jumbo rider in 2023… Roglic couldn’t even beat his team mates in 2023…! 😉

 

[Netserk]

More like:
He won the Vuelta against Mas and Haig with a helper like Sepp Kuss.

He didn’t face a formidable team of any opponent like JV with Vingegaard and Roglic (and Kuss).

So I would say roglic 2021 had much worse competition compared to any non-jumbo rider in 2023… Roglic couldn’t even beat his team mates in 2023…! 😉

He won much more convincingly over Mas than Evenepoel did last year.

 

[Bolder]

No worse than the usual prep for Vuelta contenders.

Absolutely agree. He had one mystery bad day 5 km into the first climb - - and looked great immediately before and after. Don't think prep was the problem. In fact we may never know.

 

[Blanco]

He won much more convincingly over Mas than Evenepoel did last year.

That's because he had Kuss as a helper..

 

[red_flanders]

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.

Yeah not seeing that either. He made the most of what really was a fail. Exciting, entertaining, redemptive to a point, but ultimately, against his goals and expectations, a fail.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah not seeing that either. He made the most of what really was a fail. Exciting, entertaining, redemptive to a point, but ultimately, against his goals and expectations, a fail.

And with his tail between his legs, he avoided all confrontations with the best climbers in the race after he dropped on Aubisque. That was as telling as the day in France was.

 

[Volderke]

That's because he had Kuss as a helper..

I had to unblock the post you were reacting on. It seems that poster firmly believes Mas was at the same level in 2021 as in 2022.

Anyways, it’s clear a less-than-ideal prepared roglic won in 2021, and an ideally prepared roglic in 2023 couldn’t even beat his own team mates. This clearly indicates 2023 had much stronger competition, and mentioning roglic won in 2021 despite bad prep, and comparing this to Remco in 2023, is really apples vs oranges.
Jumbo basically destroyed the competition with both superb riders and a superb team this year. They reminded me of the best team sky or the Astana 2014 team in the giro.

 

[red_flanders]

No worse than the usual prep for Vuelta contenders.

Don't see how anyone could come to that conclusion. Roglič, for example, had idea prep this year. Vingegaard no, but at least uninterrupted since the Tour.

Evenepoel never had the Vuelta in his plans until COVID, and the Worlds TT was the goal. That was his peak. He did his best to re-ramp for the Vuelta and peak again. While I think not horrible prep, certainly not optimal. Much worse than his prep last year for the Vuelta or this year for the Giro. That's all anyone is saying.

 

[red_flanders]

And with his tail between his legs, he avoided all confrontations with the best climbers in the race after he dropped on Aubisque. That was as telling as the day in France was.

That sounds more about you than him. He collapsed on the Aubisque, then animated the race almost every day afterwards, making the most he could of the race. Great rider to watch. If you think a guy like that avoids "confrontations" (I'd call it competition) with the best, well I'll wonder a bit if you've had little or no competitive athletics in your background.

 

[Netserk]

That sounds more about you than him. He collapsed on the Aubisque, then animated the race almost every day afterwards, making the most he could of the race. Great rider to watch. If you think a guy like that avoids "confrontations" (I'd call it competition) with the best, well I'll wonder a bit if you've had little or no competitive athletics in your background.

On which specific climb after Aubisque did he challenge Vingegaard and Rogla?

 

[roundabout]

I wouldn't be mistaken for a Roglic fan in the dark, but it's disingenuous to use his 3rd place in 2023 as a sign of anything as it's rather obvious that the 3 Jumbos were not going all in in various stages.

 

[red_flanders]

On which specific climb after Aubisque did he challenge Vingegaard and Rogla?

Why on earth would that have been the best path forward for his Vuelta at that point versus what he actually did? To prove to forum critics that he could (except on one really bad day) climb with those guys? He failed. He moved on. He'll try again at the Tour.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Que the, but the Olympics aren't the WCC in 3,2.....

The Olympic TT was better suited for Roglic’s characteristics on top of being hilly which helps for prep. Worlds was almost pan flat meaning Evenepoel had different prep compared to if it had been hilly.

 

[dobrien]

Oh man, miss my boys Di Luca, Bartoli, Bettini, Cippo, Sovoldelli, Simoni, Garzelli, etc.

Italian cycling has fallen so far...

 

[Salvarani]

I wouldn't be mistaken for a Roglic fan in the dark, but it's disingenuous to use his 3rd place in 2023 as a sign of anything as it's rather obvious that the 3 Jumbos were not going all in in various stages.

It was a walk in the park in the end for them. Especially when the main protagonist decides to "I am not gonna play your game", takes his ball and goes home. Creating his own game instead, where he cant lose.

The race was over after that. Both for GC and anything else. Everything was just for show after that for everyone involved.

 

[Netserk]

Why on earth would that have been the best path forward for his Vuelta at that point versus what he actually did? To prove to forum critics that he could (except on one really bad day) climb with those guys? He failed. He moved on. He'll try again at the Tour.

At least we agree then that he avoided all confrontations with the best. The point of disagreement then is whether or not that was sensible or best for him.

If he believed that Aubisque was just an off-day, and that he otherwise was one of the better climbers, he should have challenged the best on either Bejes or Angliru. I think it's only reasonable to avoid those battles if he thought he was weak.

 

[Netserk]

The Olympic TT was better suited for Roglic’s characteristics on top of being hilly which helps for prep. Worlds was almost pan flat meaning Evenepoel had different prep compared to if it had been hilly.

We all saw how he compromised his flat ITT in order to prepare for the Giro. Oh, wait.