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

[GuntherL]

The Giro is a backended route with barely a mountain to be seen in the first 12 stages - With 2 ITT's by this stage then Evanapoel should be at the pointy end - There's a decent chance he could finish the race with the backended route.

I thought that as well, but I changed my mind after I looked at the stage profiles.
Stage 5: Etna
Stage 6: A climb of 19,5 km (only 4% gradient)
Stage 7: A very challenging stage (223 km!) with a climb of 25km near the end
Stage 10: Much more difficult than it looks with several steep climbs (one has up to 20% gradient) near the end.
Stage 12: 205 km and 3800 altimeters!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I thought that as well, but I changed my mind after I looked at the stage profiles.
Stage 5: Etna
Stage 6: A climb of 19,5 km (only 4% gradient)
Stage 7: A very challenging stage (223 km!) with a climb of 25km near the end
Stage 10: Much more difficult than it looks with several steep climbs (one has up to 20% gradient) near the end.
Stage 12: 205 km and 3800 altimeters!

Depends on how these stages are raced, quite likely. A 19.5k climb at 4% is very comparable to the climb in San Juan which is also 19.5k at 4.4%. and 2600m altitude. If there is a break with some guys that are way back in GC, there is no Ineos train, no Lotto Jumbo train... then there is a chance those stages won't be a problem if only the final 1k is raced hard.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Pfff. Those who don't like how he comes off in the press should run this through a translator: https://sporza.be/nl/2020/01/13/enorme-belangstelling-voor-remco-evenepoel-in-spanje/

Three hours, still 15 interviews to go, each journalist gets 5 minutes. At this time, he was the only rider still giving interviews, Alaphilippe was already in his room for more than an hour. They had to ask Remco to move to another room, so the press would follow him out of the conference zone because the barcrew needed to clean up.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1215693189560127488

View: https://twitter.com/KristofMeul/status/1215693189560127488

 

[RedheadDane]

Poor kid... someone seriously need to have the task of telling the press that "Okay, guys; Time's up! You didn't get to ask your questions? Too bad!"

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Long article on the mainpage of Cyclingnews:

Evenepoel: If you want to win, you have to attack, so I’m not going to stop attacking

Belgian looks ahead to Giro d’Italia, Olympics and Worlds

www.cyclingnews.com

Nothing new here, but a full article with bits and pieces from other articles, in English:

Evenepoel upping ante in sophomore season

The Belgian star has a full plate for 2020, with targets from the spring classics and Giro, to the Olympics and worlds

www.velonews.com

Podcast with Remco in Dutch:

Podcast met Remco Evenepoel: "Ik beleef een droom, te gek voor woorden" | sporza

Het wielerseizoen nadert met rasse schreden en dus is het weer tijd voor de Sporza Koers podcast. In Calpe had Christophe Vandegoor een uitgebreide babbel met Remco Evenepoel. Beluister hier de podcast.

sporza.be

"There are enough examples of extremely talented people, who simply blew it. I don't want to end up like that."

• Dreams more about GT's than monuments, because they suit his skills better.
• Wants to test himself in the Giro, on the hard stages. To see if he is good enough compared to GT riders.
• Monaco has been replaced with Calpe, where he has a room in the hotel for 4 months a year.
• Doesn't have the money to permanently move to Monaco anyway (you need to have half a million in a bankaccount). Lifestyle there doesn't suit him either.
• Likes cycling better than football. More enjoyment in training (sightseeing for instance).
• Heard from guys in the peloton that the peloton got to chase him behind the motorcycle in Deutschland Tour. He was very good that day.
• Felt during the ITT in Alkmaar (ECC) like he could go on for hours.
• Learned to take powernaps from Iljo Keisse. Also learned a lot from Gilbert.
• Form is much better than this time last year. Team trains in small competitions/races internally. Last year he ultimately wasn't able to win those. This year he won almost all of them (only lost in a sprint to Jakobsen).
• The team really coaches him in day to day life, helps to keep his head on straight. The team has a lot of experience on the subject.
• Lefevre stays in touch, is involved, not often about the race itself.
• Understand he has a "god-given talent", is an abnormality of nature. Doesn't want to waste that.
• He's very happy with his life now. 11/10
• Only thing he regrets is the unnecessary break-up with his girlfriend. Glad they got back together. Not often does he second guess his decisions.

Custom paintjob due to his European ITT title.

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[RedheadDane]

Learned to take powernaps from Iljo Keisse.

Quite possibly the most important skill as a pro cyclists.
Few minutes before warm-up for an ITT; … "Okay, I'm awake. Ready to go!"

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Wouldn't it make sense to have him do internships both in cyclocross and track teams? Two opposites as far as cycling goes, but bike handling plays a big part in both and might complement riding in peloton.

This was a post of mine from 2018. And now...

Apparently he's asked Sven Vanthourenhout several times, and they've made an arrangement to follow up on it next winter. I actually think it might help him not only for bikehandling, but maybe his short punchy efforts as well. He's even mentioned wanting to ride a race once, but Vanthourenhout thinks he was just joking. Actually, he's done a CX race once when he was a small kid.

 

[GuntherL]

This was a post of mine from 2018. And now...

Apparently he's asked Sven Vanthourenhout several times, and they've made an arrangement to follow up on it next winter. I actually think it might help him not only for bikehandling, but maybe his short punchy efforts as well. He's even mentioned wanting to ride a race once, but Vanthourenhout thinks he was just joking. Actually, he's done a CX race once when he was a small kid.

You're a visionary, Logic. Considering his running skills and stamina, he might do better than expected on slow, muddy tracks. Unfortunately, they're less frequent than they used to be in the Liboton era.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

A word about your teammate Remco Evenepoel who hit the headlines this season. Were you surprised by his adaptation?

Cavagna: He is impressive. He is a very serious rider who has goals and who "wants to go for it" as they say. He trains a lot and he owes his results only to his work. I hope for him that he will continue to win in this way. He's a great rider already, We have to see his evolution now without putting too much pressure on him.

https://www.velo-club.net/post/interview-remi-cavagna-important-pour-moi-d-etre-sur-le-tour

 

[Rik Van Looy]

Remco is extremely confident after having seen his test results. It seems as if he is now able to "push" more than 7 watt/kg which is world class performance level. We will see how he will perform in Argentina. If he wins the mountain stage and the time trial we know that we have somebody special.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco thinks Roglic will the guy to beat at the Olympics. Cancellara doesn't seem to think so, because he doesn't think the guys coming out of the TDF will be ready.

Remco is extremely confident after having seen his test results. It seems as if he is now able to "push" more than 7 watt/kg which is world class performance level. We will see how he will perform in Argentina. If he wins the mountain stage and the time trial we know that we have somebody special.

If he wins the mountain stage against G. Martin and the ITT against Ganna (who he's already beaten twice) you'll know you have something special. But not after winning San Sebastian at 19 y.o. after coming back in the final from a mechanical and riding away to finish solo?

Anyway, where did you hear/read about new test results?

 

[RunningRouleur]

Remco is extremely confident after having seen his test results. It seems as if he is now able to "push" more than 7 watt/kg which is world class performance level. We will see how he will perform in Argentina. If he wins the mountain stage and the time trial we know that we have somebody special.

For how long can he hold 7w/kg now? Last year he was around 6.8 for 30 minutes, which is also the highest level Froome ever got to.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

For how long can he hold 7w/kg now? Last year he was around 6.8 for 30 minutes, which is also the highest level Froome ever got to.

He lost over 4kg compared to this time last year, when he was reported to weigh 63-64kg. Meaning 1-2 kg compared to when he won San Sebastian. So it's very possible he is still simply pushing the same watts, but being lighter. Pushing 420W at 61kg is 6.85w/kg, while pushing the same at 59kg is indeed over 7w/kg.

PS: HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY REMCO! (old fart)

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Evenepoel: Everything should be better than last year

Belgian begins big year at Vuelta a San Juan

www.cyclingnews.com

^ Evenepoel implying that he may be in (even) better shape than Alaphilippe and that the roles could be reversed this time (re: him having to work for Alaf last year) ...but "the race will decide" (paraphrased).

They will both go all out in the TT and then "help each other out as much as possible" on the MTF.

 

[hayneplane]

Remco thinks Roglic will the guy to beat at the Olympics. Cancellara doesn't seem to think so, because he doesn't think the guys coming out of the TDF will be ready.


If he wins the mountain stage against G. Martin and the ITT against Ganna (who he's already beaten twice) you'll know you have something special. But not after winning San Sebastian at 19 y.o. after coming back in the final from a mechanical and riding away to finish solo?

Anyway, where did you hear/read about new test results?

The way I took those comments was more that it would be highly impressive for his base level to be so high in all areas to be able to win the TT and Queen stage in the same race at this early stage in his career regardless of each stage only having 3-4 notable other contenders.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoel: Everything should be better than last year

Belgian begins big year at Vuelta a San Juan

www.cyclingnews.com

^ Evenepoel implying that he may be in (even) better shape than Alaphilippe and that the roles could be reversed this time (re: him having to work for Alaf last year) ...but "the race will decide" (paraphrased).

They will both go all out in the TT and then "help each other out as much as possible" on the MTF.

Well, during training camp in Calpe the riders of DQS have some mini competitions. Evenepoel won all those he participated in, except for one, where he wasn't able to drop Jakobsen who beat him in the sprint. If Alaphilippe is in the same shape he was in last year, i think Remco will be better (than Alaphilippe). He was already close last year, he's grown a lot stronger past season, and he's lost a lot of weight on top of that. My money is on Evenepoel this week.

Also, that article reads like a bad google translation. "I will not be awake in the night about this."
... So, basically what they mean is "he won't lose any sleep over it."

The way I took those comments was more that it would be highly impressive for his base level to be so high in all areas to be able to win the TT and Queen stage in the same race at this early stage in his career regardless of each stage only having 3-4 notable other contenders.

Yeah, probably, but i think he's shown already to be something special. And i think winning San Sebastian or even the EU ITT title in his first year, is harder to do than winning an easy pedaling, early season GC with virtually no noteworthy GC competition, in his second year. I just found it a bit of an odd statement. That's all.

 

[RunningRouleur]

Well, during training camp in Calpe the riders of DQS have some mini competitions. Evenepoel won all those he participated in, except for one, where he wasn't able to drop Jakobsen who beat him in the sprint. If Alaphilippe is in the same shape he was in last year, i think Remco will be better (than Alaphilippe). He was already close last year, he's grown a lot stronger past season, and he's lost a lot of weight on top of that. My money is on Evenepoel this week.

Also, that article reads like a bad google translation. "I will not be awake in the night about this."
... So, basically what they mean is "he won't lose any sleep over it."



Yeah, probably, but i think he's shown already to be something special. And i think winning San Sebastian or even the EU ITT title in his first year, is harder to do than winning an easy pedaling, early season GC with virtually no noteworthy GC competition, in his second year. I just found it a bit of an odd statement. That's all.

The only question is how he will cope with the altitude.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

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The only question is how he will cope with the altitude.

He has done tests recently and said he didn't lose power over 1800m. What or if that means anything at 2600m, i don't know. He also did the same climb last year, and altitude wasn't really much of an issue back then.

 

[RunningRouleur]

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He has done tests recently and said he didn't lose power over 1800m. What or if that means anything at 2600m, i don't know. He also did the same climb last year, and altitude wasn't really much of an issue back then.

Then provided he stays on the bike, I see an easy victory for him

 

[Bonimenier]

He is ok after his crash according to DQS twitter.

 

[RunningRouleur]

He is ok after his crash according to DQS twitter.

Not how any rider wants to start the season

 

[Salvarani]

Remco sure has trouble staying on his bike. Whether it is his own fault or it couldnt be avoided, because that is just the sport. Sometimes you make your own luck though.

 

[Bonimenier]

Remco sure has trouble staying on his bike. Whether it is his own fault or it couldnt be avoided, because that is just the sport. Sometimes you make your own luck though.

Whether it's true his bike handle skills in the peloton have room for improvement or not, this time there was nothing he could've done.

 

[hayneplane]

Remco sure has trouble staying on his bike. Whether it is his own fault or it couldnt be avoided, because that is just the sport. Sometimes you make your own luck though.

If you saw this crash you would not be commenting like that. It happened up at around the 5th row so front 25-30 riders so even good positioning didn’t save riders.

some of his crashes last year were due to bike handling deficiencies but this one was caused by a spectator and instantly took down dozens of riders. Definitely the right and fair decision to cancel all time gaps as it was not a true racing incident given the accidental spectator involvement.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco sure has trouble staying on his bike. Whether it is his own fault or it couldnt be avoided, because that is just the sport. Sometimes you make your own luck though.

If you saw this crash you would not be commenting like that. It happened up at around the 5th row so front 25-30 riders so even good positioning didn’t save riders.

some of his crashes last year were due to bike handling deficiencies but this one was caused by a spectator and instantly took down dozens of riders. Definitely the right and fair decision to cancel all time gaps as it was not a true racing incident given the accidental spectator involvement.

He had been racing very attentively in the front the final 50k. He had been on the first or second row, minutes or even seconds before the crash.