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

[Volderke]

Not sure why Evenepoel needs to be compared to any specific rider?

Not because we need, but because we can

Vincenzo Nibali versus Remco Evenepoel

Head to head career results between Vincenzo Nibali and Remco Evenepoel. The overal score is 70.0% for Vincenzo Nibali versus 30.0% for Remco Evenepoel. A comparison on same race results, time trial points and the points per age.

www.procyclingstats.com

If we just assume Remco is at 1/3rd of his career (10 more years to go, 5 pro years already behind), he will be better in terms of:
1. professional wins
2. PCS points
3. points per km
4. points in TT
5. points in classics.

However, if Remco continues his trajectory, it will be far from sure if he can best Vincenzo in GC points.

 

[Hugh Januss]

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.

Spured on by Remco's careful avoidance of going head to head with any of the GC contenders for the last 8 days of the Vuelta.

 

[Berniece]

He didn't have bad prep.

Is this a joke?

 

[Rackham]

Evenepoel should IMO follow a 'normal' race schedule next season towards the Tour: Paris-Nice, Itzulia, Ardennes, altitude camp, Dauphiné, Tour.

Depending how well he does in that little lot, the hype should be at completely normal levels going into the Tour. I think this is a rider who should definitely go & face Vingegaard & Pog as early as possible next season in the one week stage races, i.e. so that his level versus those two monsters is easier to judge before the TdF.

 

[Netserk]

Is this a joke?

No worse than the usual prep for Vuelta contenders.

 

[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.