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

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Absolutely barbaric lol.

Best troll attempt 2019

 

[Kwibus]

You are discussing with Jancouver....lol

 

[KZD]

I don't remember seeing a 19 year old doing such a good race with such a deep field.
He paced it really well too

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

I think he'll get his first time following the Sky train today. so that'll be interesting.

Ironically, it was the other way around, as the first Sky rider, finished in Remco's wheel :lol:

 

[jaylew]

He's performed well above my expectations so far this season. Kid is definitely oozing talent.

 

[dastott]

His progression adds more interest to an already fascinating 2019 season. Team mate James Knox also impressive on the climb.

 

[skidmark]

Re: Re:

Dumoulin was mediocre, though. Didn't expect that. Roglic is the real benchmark.

Roglic, one of the favorites for a GT victory this year, is the benchmark for a 19 year old who should be riding in the U23 category for 2 more years?

Nah, for GC riders in general. Why compare anyone to a rider (Dumoulin) who is either in a crap form, or didn't perform up to his usual standards for some other reason?

yah I think comparing him, as a developing talent who is just getting used to the real races, to someone like Sivakov or Lambrecht, would be more appropriate than Dumoulin, even though they both have a few years of age and a year of WT experience on him. And he beat them both, in Lambrecht's case fairly soundly. So definitely he's doing pretty well. I am not clear on how Roglic, who is eleven years his senior and has 3 more years experience at the WT level, is in any way a comparison to gauging his development. I'm definitely curious to hear why you are saying he'd be an appropriate benchmark; I hear you saying he should be a benchmark for GC riders in general, but this is the Remco Evenepoel thread and so that is who we are talking about.

 

[Jancouver]

Re:

It's just amazing how much you can troll sometimes. How can you say so what to the fact that he is 19 and at least a year and a half younger than every other WorldTour rider?

Okay, he is another rider you don't like, apparently, but my god...

Edit: And the difficulty of the climb plays no role, you can only look at the opposition to assess whether or not a 15th place is good or bad.

It's amazing that if somebody does not agree with your opinion, instantly you are calling me a troll and somehow automatically you assumed that I don't like him.

Jeez, this guy is perhaps talented, but he ain't no Merckx, at least not based on his current performance.

So far, he showed close to nothing, (3rd in weak Argentinian TT) so no, so far, I'm not impressed, and I wouldn't be surprised if he slowly faded out ... just like many, many similar mega-talents from the past.

I hope that he can prove me wrong.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Re: Re:

yah I think comparing him, as a developing talent who is just getting used to the real races, to someone like Sivakov or Lambrecht, would be more appropriate than Dumoulin, even though they both have a few years of age and a year of WT experience on him. And he beat them both, in Lambrecht's case fairly soundly. So definitely he's doing pretty well. I am not clear on how Roglic, who is eleven years his senior and has 3 more years experience at the WT level, is in any way a comparison to gauging his development. I'm definitely curious to hear why you are saying he'd be an appropriate benchmark; I hear you saying he should be a benchmark for GC riders in general, but this is the Remco Evenepoel thread and so that is who we are talking about.

Because I like to compare any talent in the pro ranks to the best possible riders, to see how much ground they have to make up to make it to the very top, but I guess I'm alone in that. I didn't say he had to be anywhere near close to Roglic. No one expected that.

Not interested at all in comparing him to possibly overhyped talents like Sivakov, or to the guys in his (Evenepoel's) age range. We already know he smokes them.

 

[Tim Booth]

Remco Evenepoel will not finish the UAE Tour. The Deceuninck Quick-Step rider had to give up on Hatta Dam during the fourth stage.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco Evenepoel will not finish the UAE Tour. The Deceuninck Quick-Step rider had to give up on Hatta Dam during the fourth stage.

Crashed with a motorcycle. Nothing broken.

 

[King Boonen]

Remco Evenepoel will not finish the UAE Tour. The Deceuninck Quick-Step rider had to give up on Hatta Dam during the fourth stage.

Crashed with a motorcycle. Nothing broken.

The idiocy continues.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I have no idea what the exact circumstances were, if it was Remco, not being used to motorcycles in the race yet, or how to behave around them. Or if the motorcycle was at fault.

PS: apparently, the motorcycle was on the side of the road, and Remco couldn't evade him anymore. Sounds like the motorcycle was standing still and Remco crashed into it.

EDIT: crash happended at 85k from the start.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

I have no idea what the exact circumstances were, if it was Remco, not being used to motorcycles in the race yet, or how to behave around them. Or if the motorcycle was at fault.

PS: apparently, the motorcycle was on the side of the road, and Remco couldn't evade him anymore. Sounds like the motorcycle was standing still and Remco crashed into it.

Thanks for the info, my default position is it's always the MC that is at fault as they should be judging the situation and getting out of the way if they think there is a risk.

 

[spalco]

Re: Re:

If Ramco was the next Merckx, he would show some more class in Argentina or here.

Perhaps Tadej Pogačar is the next big thing.

I think your song "he is too young" is getting old. He may be a good cyclist, but he will be lucky to even match Sagan, Boonen or Cancellara.

"Eddie" is a completely different level and so far there are no signs that Remco can match that level ... regardless of his young age.

Any rider would be lucky to match Sagan, Boonen or Cancellara, that's the top top tier of cycling success.
There will never be another Eddie Merckx.

 

[JosephK]

Re: Re:

If Ramco was the next Merckx, he would show some more class in Argentina or here.

Perhaps Tadej Pogačar is the next big thing.

I think your song "he is too young" is getting old. He may be a good cyclist, but he will be lucky to even match Sagan, Boonen or Cancellara.

"Eddie" is a completely different level and so far there are no signs that Remco can match that level ... regardless of his young age.

Any rider would be lucky to match Sagan, Boonen or Cancellara, that's the top top tier of cycling success.
There will never be another Eddie Merckx.

Meh . . . those guys are/were mediocre talents who got lucky a few times. Merckx wasn't bad, but he was no Geraint Thomas.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Ah he crashed, so it's the next Gesink or Kelderman

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

If Ramco was the next Merckx, he would show some more class in Argentina or here.

Perhaps Tadej Pogačar is the next big thing.

I think your song "he is too young" is getting old. He may be a good cyclist, but he will be lucky to even match Sagan, Boonen or Cancellara.

"Eddie" is a completely different level and so far there are no signs that Remco can match that level ... regardless of his young age.

Any rider would be lucky to match Sagan, Boonen or Cancellara, that's the top top tier of cycling success.
There will never be another Eddie Merckx.

I agree.

Since he is being titled "the next Merckx", the expectations are very high.

Unfortunately, in life (and business), meeting those expectations is not easy.

Let's wish him a speedy recovery.

BTW, is anybody willing to take a guess at what and when will be (if ever) his first pro-race win?

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Probably a TT in a minor race, will be his first.

 

[Akuryo]

Winning is actually quite hard. Look at his teammate Stybar who had not won a race except Nationals for 3 years recently. And he is a multiple GT stage winner and multiple CX world champion of the past. Even for a guy like that it was hard to get over the hump for a few seasons. Same happened to Van Avermaet after his first Vuelta stage victory. Did not take another win for almost 3 years.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

Since he is being titled "the next Merckx", the expectations are very high.

There is nobody on this forum, nor anybody on the planet with any common sense and knowledge about cycling for that matter, that believes he will be the next Merckx, simply because it is not possible anymore. If Merckx were to be cloned, and he was to ride in the current age, even Merckx himself, would not be the next Merckx. Even if he would still be the best GC rider, he would never win the same amount in the same way that was possible in the 60's and 70's.

Therefor, any thread title with "the new/next Merckx" is just a lighthearted way of saying that the kid is very talented. In this particular case, he won his races in the junior category, in a dominant - merckx-like - fashion. It doesn't mean he would become an 11 time GT winner, and multiple WC and monument winner. We all know this. You knew this, i knew this, DNP-Old knew this... there is no need to act as if anybody was actually implying that he would in fact become the next Merckx. Or as if anybody was actually believing this would be the case.

That doesn't mean he couldn't become a GT winner one day. Because, at this moment in his development, he is simply head and shoulders ahead of anybody from the past few decades, at the same age. So your idiotic remark that finishing 15th, within 1 minute of the winner, on a difficult climb (flat race, hard tempo climb with head wind), while there are multiple GT contenders/winners finishing behind him, that this is somehow a bad result, just shows how disingenuous your remark about "him not being the next Merckx" really is. You knew very well that nobody would ever be the next Merckx, but you chose to compare (and trivialize) Remco's efforts nevertheless. Obviously, not fully aware, that Merckx was still riding at amateur level when he was Remco's age.

At the same time it doesn't mean he couldn't become the next Popovic either. Or the next Kelderman. Anything is possible, but he's certainly ahead of the curve (by far) and acting like he's not, that he's nothing special, or that he is actually underachieving, would only be good for one thing: making a fool of yourself.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoel on his Instagram:

*** happens.
Crashes are part of the game, and so do motorbikes :sad: .
I just want to say that the motorbikes should have a little bit more respect for the peloton, and where the riders are riding.
If we ride on the right side of the road, then DON’T make a standstill on the right side, PLEASE!
Goodluck to the boys for the upcoming days!

On the team website, he says he obviously is disappointed having to forfait his first WT race. Other than a bit of stiffness and pain, he's ok. Luckilly, nothing's broken and he hopes he can join the peloton soon.

The team doctor responded to a local newsstation, that it was getting out of hand. He got 30 phonecalls from different people inquiring about a kid who just had some abrasions. :lol:

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Since he is being titled "the next Merckx", the expectations are very high.

There is nobody on this forum, nor anybody on the planet with any common sense and knowledge about cycling for that matter, that believes he will be the next Merckx, simply because it is not possible anymore. If Merckx were to be cloned, and he was to ride in the current age, even Merckx himself, would not be the next Merckx. Even if he would still be the best GC rider, he would never win the same amount in the same way that was possible in the 60's and 70's.

Off Topic, but if I "recall" (from what I've heard/read) correctly, then even Merckx' attempt at being the new Merckx didn't quite work that well.

 

[hayneplane]

In the long run getting a painful but not big damage lesson that the pro peloton is much more hazardous than the juniors with all the extra support vehicles, team cars and media Motos adding to the chaos might prove to be a valuable learning experience.

A shame from a fan perspective not to be able to see how he goes on the long final climb in Stage 6 but good that it sounds like he will be back on the bike within days and able to continue his planned race calendar.

For me the most fascinating and encouraging thing about his performance on the mtf was the maturity of his pacing to recognise that he needed to let go of the wheel in front and not go into the red that could have caused him to ship 3+ minutes yet judging by the end result he was able to surge past at least 15 riders who got dropped after him in a manner rather reminiscent of Carlos Sastre.

 

[Vroome.exe]

Re: Re:

Since he is being titled "the next Merckx", the expectations are very high.

There is nobody on this forum, nor anybody on the planet with any common sense and knowledge about cycling for that matter, that believes he will be the next Merckx, simply because it is not possible anymore. If Merckx were to be cloned, and he was to ride in the current age, even Merckx himself, would not be the next Merckx. Even if he would still be the best GC rider, he would never win the same amount in the same way that was possible in the 60's and 70's.

Therefor, any thread title with "the new/next Merckx" is just a lighthearted way of saying that the kid is very talented. In this particular case, he won his races in the junior category, in a dominant - merckx-like - fashion. It doesn't mean he would become an 11 time GT winner, and multiple WC and monument winner. We all know this. You knew this, i knew this, DNP-Old knew this... there is no need to act as if anybody was actually implying that he would in fact become the next Merckx. Or as if anybody was actually believing this would be the case.

That doesn't mean he couldn't become a GT winner one day. Because, at this moment in his development, he is simply head and shoulders ahead of anybody from the past few decades, at the same age. So your idiotic remark that finishing 15th, within 1 minute of the winner, on a difficult climb (flat race, hard tempo climb with head wind), while there are multiple GT contenders/winners finishing behind him, that this is somehow a bad result, just shows how disingenuous your remark about "him not being the next Merckx" really is. You knew very well that nobody would ever be the next Merckx, but you chose to compare (and trivialize) Remco's efforts nevertheless. Obviously, not fully aware, that Merckx was still riding at amateur level when he was Remco's age.

At the same time it doesn't mean he couldn't become the next Popovic either. Or the next Kelderman. Anything is possible, but he's certainly ahead of the curve (by far) and acting like he's not, that he's nothing special, or that he is actually underachieving, would only be good for one thing: making a fool of yourself.

That is simply not true. He has done nothing so far as a pro, there have been a lot of better time trialists and climbers at 19 years of age even in a past few seasons. Adrien Costa, being 18 years old, almost won an HC stage race a few years ago. Mikkel Bjerg was also destroying others in TTs. Remco has only won against juniors and finishing a minute behind out of form riders on an easy climb is not something spectacular.