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

[RedheadDane]

So... this is something I've kinda been wondering for a while.
There's been a lot of talk about how he's "completely skipping the U23 ranks". However, according to UCI rules, wouldn't he still theoretically be allowed to do some races for the national team, provided that DQ is willing to lend him out? Of course the Belgian federation may operate by on the basis of "You wanna play with the big boys, you play with the big boys", and I guess Belgium aren't exactly short on potential riders anyway.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

So... this is something I've kinda been wondering for a while.
There's been a lot of talk about how he's "completely skipping the U23 ranks". However, according to UCI rules, wouldn't he still theoretically be allowed to do some races for the national team, provided that DQ is willing to lend him out? Of course the Belgian federation may operate by on the basis of "You wanna play with the big boys, you play with the big boys", and I guess Belgium aren't exactly short on potential riders anyway.

Only U23 races he’s eligible to participate in are l’Avenir and the World Championships.

 

[Mavic]

Good Lord give the guy a break. Like other's already mentioned in here, he JUST turned 19. I mean, he's practically a baby. Yes, he has been hyped up to levels that could have only set him up to fail. However, that hype isn't baseless and no one can argue against facts, and facts show that this kid dominated the junior ranks like no one before him and even beat out (time-wise) the best U23 riders on similar races/courses. The margins with which he won most races he participated in was mind-boggling. How could he possibly have escaped the hype that comes with those type of results? Especially in a cycling-crazy nation like Belgium who have been starved of a top class stage racer. Obviously there will never be another Merckx, it's just not possible anymore in modern-day cycling. With so many different cyclists specializing in different types of races it's hard to dominate on a "Merckxian" level. Some common sense goes a long way in nuancing the title of this thread and the Merckx comparisons. I guess you could say he was a Merckx on junior level, which is much more plausible, though still unbelievably impressive, than in the pro peloton.

Let's just give him a break and see how he progresses. Can you imagine having the hopes of a whole nation on his small shoulders? On top of that you have the people who a circling around him like vultures just waiting for him to fail to meet their specific expectations in order to go in on him. Poor guy. It's a good thing he seems to be level-headed and I think Lefevere knows how to guide and nurture a special talent. There's no way his talent can just disappear, but half the battle is mentally. I, for one, hope he can prove the naysayers wrong.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

So, the starting list of Romandie is slowly growing. Roglic, Kruijswijk, Pogacar, Latour, Lopez, Gaudu, Thomas, Zakarin, Costa, Mäder, Amador...

He's supposed to show Lefevre what he's made of in this race (his first real exam). Two ITT (one being a prologue i assume) and two MTF.

He'll ride the Presidential Tour of Turkey about a week or so before that. Which startlist is less complete and obviously less impressive. There is one stage that seems to be fitting his skills, but it's hard to judge by profile (and i haven't previously paid attention to this race, tbh). The climb to Kartepe is about 16k at 7.7%. If the startlist remains subpar, and his form is good leading up to Romandie, maybe he could try and compete for a top spot here?

 

[Jancouver]

I agree, let's cut him some slack.

Maybe comparing him to Betancur wasn't fair.

Perhaps, I should compare him to Jan Ulrich. Good TT, slightly overweight.

Hopefully, just like Jan, he will also win the TdF by the time he is 23.

My personal guess is: Remco will never win any GT. He may take some wins in some smaller one-week races that have some TT, however, so far, I just don't see any skills that would turn him into a GT contender, Classic contender, sprinter or pure climber.

Maybe, he is the next Eddie Boss. "Jack of all trades, master of none"

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

I agree, let's cut him some slack.

Maybe comparing him to Betancur wasn't fair.

Perhaps, I should compare him to Jan Ulrich. Good TT, slightly overweight.

Hopefully, just like Jan, he will also win the TdF by the time he is 23.

My personal guess is: Remco will never win any GT. He may take some wins in some smaller one-week races that have some TT, however, so far, I just don't see any skills that would turn him into a GT contender, Classic contender, sprinter or pure climber.

Maybe, he is the next Eddie Boss. "Jack of all trades, master of none"

You don't see any skills that would turn him into a GT contender? Killer timetrialist. Lightweight. Tempoclimber. Huge engine. Levelheaded. Again you show how little you know of him. He isn't a jack of all trades at all. He lacks punch, he can't sprint. He will not win many stages or one day races just for that reason. He will win quite a few ITT's and he has an insane potential as a GC rider, because he will take minutes on other contenders in the ITT, and he will choke them uphill.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Oscar Pereiro about Evenepoel

Google translate

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

He'll ride the Presidential Tour of Turkey about a week or so before that. Which startlist is less complete and obviously less impressive.

Uf, the startlist is yet to really get filled in and any chance of winning the entire thing is already gone. João Rodrigues, the newest Portuguese motorbike, will smoke everyone here. I'm expecting Rodrigues to throw the almighty Balarcón off his throne come August in the Volta. W52-robots usually don't show up in prep races, but this guy was up there even in the Algarve.

On a more serious note, I'm hoping Rally will bring McNulty. That seems like a good indicator of where Remco really stands.

 

[Kwibus]

People, dont let Jancouver troll you this easily.

 

[Bolder]

He won't win a GT on QS unless the team retools to support at GT rider.

It's a bit early to say what he might specialize in, given that Wiggins, Froome, Thomas didn't look like TdF winners at first. Give him a couple of years to develop, then let's see where his natural level is at.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

He won't win a GT on QS unless the team retools to support at GT rider.

It's a bit early to say what he might specialize in, given that Wiggins, Froome, Thomas didn't look like TdF winners at first. Give him a couple of years to develop, then let's see where his natural level is at.

I also don't really think it's a big deal that DQS isn't geared towards GT GC until then. Until the moment he actually needs to perform and needs to control the race, needs assistance in the mountains... He's good at DQS for now. When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two, then sure. Until then i don't think it matters that much. By that time DQS could look a lot different (what will happen with Mas?) or he could find a spot in a better GT/GC team.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Considering Lefevere antics this season especially publicly castigating his own riders for supposed failings when they are winning a lot, it may not have be the best team for Remco. He probably hurried into the contract for the top belgian team. Soudal is in management shambles. A better fit may have been Jumbo Visma considering that van Aert has joined or even Sunweb

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Considering Lefevere antics this season especially publicly castigating his own riders for supposed failings when they are winning a lot, it may not have be the best team for Remco. He probably hurried into the contract for the top belgian team. Soudal is in management shambles. A better fit may have been Jumbo Visma considering that van Aert has joined or even Sunweb

I think Remco is strong (and smart) enough to cope with that. I don't believe for a second that he'd been better off at Sunweb. Lotto Soudal U23 seems to be working fine, but the elites is a f'ing joke. Jumbo Visma, sure. That might have been a good option. He had a good connection with De Plus as well.

 

[Red Rick]

Think he's on one of the better teams he could've been on. I agree that Lefevre doesn't seem to be the best fit though. Belgian team and Belgian hype might not be great either, but at least he won't be put into a slave role like Bernal has going on in GTs already.

 

[Flamin]

Re:

Considering Lefevere antics this season especially publicly castigating his own riders for supposed failings when they are winning a lot

Don't blindly follow what the media write

 

[yaco]

Re:

Considering Lefevere antics this season especially publicly castigating his own riders for supposed failings when they are winning a lot, it may not have be the best team for Remco. He probably hurried into the contract for the top belgian team. Soudal is in management shambles. A better fit may have been Jumbo Visma considering that van Aert has joined or even Sunweb

Mitchelton Scott and Sky were the other teams that pursued Remco - Sky still have a patchy record at developing young talent, while Mitchelton Scott have a better record at developing young talent, have a lower profile,so no pressure in riding for a Belgium team and he would have done a different program - Anyway Remco wasn't chasing dollars when he chose QS.

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

He won't win a GT on QS unless the team retools to support at GT rider.

It's a bit early to say what he might specialize in, given that Wiggins, Froome, Thomas didn't look like TdF winners at first. Give him a couple of years to develop, then let's see where his natural level is at.

I also don't really think it's a big deal that DQS isn't geared towards GT GC until then. Until the moment he actually needs to perform and needs to control the race, needs assistance in the mountains... He's good at DQS for now. When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two, then sure. Until then i don't think it matters that much. By that time DQS could look a lot different (what will happen with Mas?) or he could find a spot in a better GT/GC team.

"When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two"

In a year or two? Seriously?

While we have seen very little from him thus far, in your eyes, he is ready to win some of the hardest one-week WT races.

Just when I thought that I have seen it all at the Porte's thread, it seems that this thread may be even more ridiculous.

Look, nobody is saying that he won't be able to get some nice results in the future, but painting him as a potential Dauphiné winner in a year or two is just a ridiculous statement.

Sorry, there is no logic behind those statements as (once again) he has shown nothing so far to even consider him a podium contender for any WT race.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

He won't win a GT on QS unless the team retools to support at GT rider.

It's a bit early to say what he might specialize in, given that Wiggins, Froome, Thomas didn't look like TdF winners at first. Give him a couple of years to develop, then let's see where his natural level is at.

I also don't really think it's a big deal that DQS isn't geared towards GT GC until then. Until the moment he actually needs to perform and needs to control the race, needs assistance in the mountains... He's good at DQS for now. When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two, then sure. Until then i don't think it matters that much. By that time DQS could look a lot different (what will happen with Mas?) or he could find a spot in a better GT/GC team.

"When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two"

In a year or two? Seriously?

While we have seen very little from him thus far, in your eyes, he is ready to win some of the hardest one-week WT races.

Just when I thought that I have seen it all at the Porte's thread, it seems that this thread may be even more ridiculous.

Look, nobody is saying that he won't be able to get some nice results in the future, but painting him as a potential Dauphiné winner in a year or two is just a ridiculous statement.

Sorry, there is no logic behind those statements as (once again) he has shown nothing so far to even consider him a podium contender for any WT race.

Comprehensive reading FTW. Nowhere did i state he would win. But I think in two or three years, his ambition will be to win a one week GC race, yes. Whether he'll achieve it, come close, or not at all, will depend on how he evolves.

But please, enlighten us and tell us what he should have done, as a 19 year old, in the races he raced so far, to show you that he might evolve into a rider that "might" podium in "any" WT race? He sacreficed his podium spot in San Juan, to ride for Alaphilippe (yet still managed to win the Youth Classification and finish 3rd in the ITT). He crashed in UAE, after finishing a MTF stage within one minute of the winner against a stacked field. He worked for his team in Nokere and Handzame, until the final few K's. So, what should he have showed you? Because you're not just talking about winning a GC, but merely contend for a podium in "any" WT race. I'm just trying picture how your brain works, when you don't think anything of what he's shown so far even warants to see him as a podium contender (which means, you don't think what he's shown so far as a 19 year old, makes you think he'll ever come close to any podium in any WT race).

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Mavic]

I'm trying to imagine the train of thought when passing judgement on a 19-year-old junior, who skipped the whole U23 level, in order to learn the ropes in the pro peloton. Yes, this is supposed to be a learning season and who knows he could have an outlying result here and there cause, you know, the boy kinda has some talent ( ) which he has already shown glimpses of like Logic already mentioned. Will he live up to the massive hype surrounding him? Who knows, like Jancouver said, he hasn't had the opportunity to show too much yet, though what he has shown, is consistent with his ambitions of being a successful stage racer.

So let's just give him time, you know? Maybe let the boy turn 20? or heck, let's go mental and wait till he's 21 ( ) before passing judgement on what he can and cannot do. There's just no telling where Remco's talent is going to take him, but the notion that he has failed before he even really started because he didn't decimate the pro peloton in every race he starts in is, well, ridiculous.

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

He won't win a GT on QS unless the team retools to support at GT rider.

It's a bit early to say what he might specialize in, given that Wiggins, Froome, Thomas didn't look like TdF winners at first. Give him a couple of years to develop, then let's see where his natural level is at.

I also don't really think it's a big deal that DQS isn't geared towards GT GC until then. Until the moment he actually needs to perform and needs to control the race, needs assistance in the mountains... He's good at DQS for now. When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two, then sure. Until then i don't think it matters that much. By that time DQS could look a lot different (what will happen with Mas?) or he could find a spot in a better GT/GC team.

"When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two"

In a year or two? Seriously?

While we have seen very little from him thus far, in your eyes, he is ready to win some of the hardest one-week WT races.

Just when I thought that I have seen it all at the Porte's thread, it seems that this thread may be even more ridiculous.

Look, nobody is saying that he won't be able to get some nice results in the future, but painting him as a potential Dauphiné winner in a year or two is just a ridiculous statement.

Sorry, there is no logic behind those statements as (once again) he has shown nothing so far to even consider him a podium contender for any WT race.

Comprehensive reading FTW. Nowhere did i state he would win. But I think in two or three years, his ambition will be to win a one week GC race, yes. Whether he'll achieve it, come close, or not at all, will depend on how he evolves.

But please, enlighten us and tell us what he should have done, as a 19 year old, in the races he raced so far, to show you that he might evolve into a rider that "might" podium in "any" WT race? He sacreficed his podium spot in San Juan, to ride for Alaphilippe (yet still managed to win the Youth Classification and finish 3rd in the ITT). He crashed in UAE, after finishing a MTF stage within one minute of the winner against a stacked field. He worked for his team in Nokere and Handzame, until the final few K's. So, what should he have showed you? Because you're not just talking about winning a GC, but merely contend for a podium in "any" WT race. I'm just trying picture how your brain works, when you don't think anything of what he's shown so far even warants to see him as a podium contender (which means, you don't think what he's shown so far as a 19 year old, makes you think he'll ever come close to any podium in any WT race).

:lol: :lol: :lol:

You are just twisting your own words.

First, you say when he "wants to win in a year or two" then you say that it does not mean he will win LOL

Just like the Porte's thread. Over the last several years, there were so many narrow-minded individuals living in complete denial, incapable of accepting anything but their own blindered views of Porte's "greatness".

Yes, Porte wants to win the TdF too ... and he will never win one.

Yet, those intolerant fanboys will always point a finger at me and call me names, just because I don't share the same views.

So you can continue with your adamant writing all you want because I won't be wasting my time arguing with an intrasigent fanboy.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

He won't win a GT on QS unless the team retools to support at GT rider.

It's a bit early to say what he might specialize in, given that Wiggins, Froome, Thomas didn't look like TdF winners at first. Give him a couple of years to develop, then let's see where his natural level is at.

I also don't really think it's a big deal that DQS isn't geared towards GT GC until then. Until the moment he actually needs to perform and needs to control the race, needs assistance in the mountains... He's good at DQS for now. When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two, then sure. Until then i don't think it matters that much. By that time DQS could look a lot different (what will happen with Mas?) or he could find a spot in a better GT/GC team.

"When he wants to win PN, Dauphiné, Vasco... in a year or two"

In a year or two? Seriously?

While we have seen very little from him thus far, in your eyes, he is ready to win some of the hardest one-week WT races.

Just when I thought that I have seen it all at the Porte's thread, it seems that this thread may be even more ridiculous.

Look, nobody is saying that he won't be able to get some nice results in the future, but painting him as a potential Dauphiné winner in a year or two is just a ridiculous statement.

Sorry, there is no logic behind those statements as (once again) he has shown nothing so far to even consider him a podium contender for any WT race.

Comprehensive reading FTW. Nowhere did i state he would win. But I think in two or three years, his ambition will be to win a one week GC race, yes. Whether he'll achieve it, come close, or not at all, will depend on how he evolves.

But please, enlighten us and tell us what he should have done, as a 19 year old, in the races he raced so far, to show you that he might evolve into a rider that "might" podium in "any" WT race? He sacreficed his podium spot in San Juan, to ride for Alaphilippe (yet still managed to win the Youth Classification and finish 3rd in the ITT). He crashed in UAE, after finishing a MTF stage within one minute of the winner against a stacked field. He worked for his team in Nokere and Handzame, until the final few K's. So, what should he have showed you? Because you're not just talking about winning a GC, but merely contend for a podium in "any" WT race. I'm just trying picture how your brain works, when you don't think anything of what he's shown so far even warants to see him as a podium contender (which means, you don't think what he's shown so far as a 19 year old, makes you think he'll ever come close to any podium in any WT race).

:lol: :lol: :lol:

You are just twisting your own words.

First, you say when he "wants to win in a year or two" then you say that it does not mean he will win LOL

Just like the Porte's thread. Over the last several years, there were so many narrow-minded individuals living in complete denial, incapable of accepting anything but their own blindered views of Porte's "greatness".

Yes, Porte wants to win the TdF too ... and he will never win one.

Yet, those intolerant fanboys will always point a finger at me and call me names, just because I don't share the same views.

So you can continue with your adamant writing all you want because I won't be wasting my time arguing with an intrasigent fanboy.

I'm not twisting any words. Me saying "when he wants to win" is not me saying "when he will win". But i can understand that's too much for you to understand.

Just like "you wanting to make a point" does not mean you are actually making a point.

But yes, please, don't engage in further debate with me. I would appreciate that very much.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Finally a provisional startlist for ToT has been put online.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-of-turkey/startlist/roster

No heavy hitters there.

 

[tobydawq]

Rodrigues, Alarcón, Polanc, Evenepoel should be the favourites, I think.

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

Rodrigues, Alarcón, Polanc, Evenepoel should be the favourites, I think.

Merhawi Kudus and Felix Grosschartner could do well on GC too I think.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He will get a free role in Turkey. Doesn't have to work for Hodeg or Jakobsen. He can go for GC if he wants, without pressure (from the team). https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20190412_04317722

Burning fat in Spain
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv_FF4Sh9ZB/