Obviously a huge talent coming to fruition, but to call him a step above a 23-year-old Tour de France champion, or even a 21-year-old Vuelta podium finisher, seems hyperbolic. Agree the potential is all there, but needs to perform in a GT or monument before getting elevated IMO
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You know, I'm still shocked every time the guy wins a race. I still just cannot believe his level. You just get used to the fact that certain talents have a certain profile. Sometimes there are guys who seem to hit their peak at an extremely young age already like Bernal, Pogacar, Schleck a decade earlier, or Sagan if you are looking at sprinters. Even then they usually have a certain age profile, Pogacar and Schleck both got their first GT podium at 21, Bernal probably could have done the same if he hadn't been sent to the tour, Sagan already won WT level races at 20 but could only do so consistently at 21. All those guys were good at that age, but they often profited from weak competition and all clearly hadn't hit their peak yet. They were often similar types of riders, so we've grown to accept that pure climbers or sprinters could be world class early.
Evenepoel looks like he does all the same things but just one level more extreme. He wins world tour races as a teenager, he is looked upon as a favorite for a gt at 20, he doesn't just win but dominates races at that age and he does all of that while being a type of rider that usually doesn't peak early.
I'm still sitting here looking for the catch, not because I don't want him to succeed but because I still cannot believe my eyes.
That said, I'm still unsure about his favorite status for this giro at least. I do think the three weeks and just the extreme amount of climbing the race has this season could take a toll on him and his team not really being suited for riding for gc and his lack of experience could become a problem.
Evenepoel looks like he does all the same things but just one level more extreme. He wins world tour races as a teenager, he is looked upon as a favorite for a gt at 20, he doesn't just win but dominates races at that age and he does all of that while being a type of rider that usually doesn't peak early.
I'm still sitting here looking for the catch, not because I don't want him to succeed but because I still cannot believe my eyes.
That said, I'm still unsure about his favorite status for this giro at least. I do think the three weeks and just the extreme amount of climbing the race has this season could take a toll on him and his team not really being suited for riding for gc and his lack of experience could become a problem.
LeFevre will boost climbing support for Evanopoel if he thinks he can win a GT - QS gave Uran good climbing support when he rode GC at GT's - In saying that, QS doesn't need to be an Ineos - Two or three high quality climbers are enough for a GT.
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Big Doopie
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It's also forgetting that Remco can win many (if not all of the monuments). So he needs a team to support him there as well.
In my opinion his status as a GT favorite has an asterisk next to it. He won’t have a true status as Giro favorite. It’s his first GT. He will go in with many thinking he’s a “favorite” and they’ll keep a diligent eye on him but it can’t be escaped that he has never ridden a GT. I’ll be rooting for him to remain strong through the whole Giro though.
Remco can only win when arriving alone. It will be a challenge to win monuments in a future as riders will know him better and will anticipate.
But let us see what the future will bring.
Walter
You can only follow a rider if you’re strong enough to. 
Heck a peloton can only follow a rider if they’re strong enough.
Heck a peloton can only follow a rider if they’re strong enough.I would not go that far, certainly there are plenty of climbers and puncheurs with a last 500 metre- 1km kick to leave him behind but on a long power climb he may well have worn away their explosiveness.
Up against Quintana, Dumoulin, Nibali etc I don’t think there would be much difference in their finishing speed.
Remco can sap the life out of his rivals. See Wellens, Campenaerts, Skuijns, Masnada... If the circumstances are such that it's been a hard race and there are no more domestiques, he can kick the pace on a shallow climb and choke whoever is in his wheel. Campenaerts also said something in his vlog that i already mentioned last year: because Remco is so aero and so small, hanging in his wheel gives you very little relief. Remco knows this, which is also why he often doesn't seem to care that riders stay in his wheel, because he knows they are suffering more than him.
2 days ago you were calling out people rooting against him arguing Pogacars results weren't less stellar, now you're writing essays about all the ways he stands out.
If you go by selective reading, and want to cherrypick arguments, i guess you could look at it that way.
F_Cance's argument to start bitching about Evenepoel, and not Bernal or Pogacar, was because Evenepoel was "dominant from the start" and the other two werent, according to him. Now if i remember correctly, Evenepoel needed 6 months to get going, while Pogacar started winning immediately in Algarve. I didn't say Pogacars results were or weren't less stellar, like you are claiming. The fact that i personally believe he is a level above Pogacar in the fields he excels at doesn't change the palmares Pogacar already put together. It certainly doesn't change the fact that i just (on this same page) said that we don't know yet if Evenepoel is a lesser, equal or better climber. On top of that, except his national ITT win last year, against B-tier ITT'ers, all Pogacar's wins are all uphill wins. The one thing i explicitly mentioned as Evenepoel (not yet) being better at.
So, not only was F_Cance factually wrong, i was specifically talking about Evenepoel's strengths. I didn't say he didn't have any weaknesses, or that he is a cut above Bernal and Pogacar in climbing. Which, if he isn't, makes all the difference for his dominance as a GT/GC rider, wouldn't you say?
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I am watching this thread since it inception and after 110 pages and 2 years I really have to ask to all of you: "Do you (still) believe that Remco is the next Eddy Merckx?" Or better: "Do you believe he is that once-in-fifty-years phenomenon that stands above everyone else and basically can win any race he starts?" We all like heroes because they give us a glimpse of what is possible. They lift us beyond our own limiting believes. We may need them even more in the challenging times we face. To me a cyclist dominating the field and in particular also winning the big tours multiple times in a dominant fashion is the ultimate sports hero, partly because of the amazing (and sometimes apocalyptic) scenes and of course also because the truly, incredible effort needed to succeed. I still remember watching Ullrich's dominant victory at Arcalis in 1997 as a kid and I was hooked for years as a fan, hoping that he would raise above the legends. Unfortunately he did not live up to my expectations and I had to let go of that 'hero' idea. So now we have this kid from 20 years old that apparently runs through the junior and now pro field as if it is all just a fun game he plays. He is a neighbourhood boy who enjoyed his childhood literally 1 km from my doorstep (950m to be exact). Is he the real deal? He has a lot to prove but I truly want to believe!
Very interesting how you have the distance from His house to yours down to the very meter.
A couple of things:
The thread title was given in jest. Nobody really believes there will ever be a second Merckx. For starters, he can't sprint.
The thread title was given by one guy. Even if he were serious, it doesn't mean the dozens (or hundreds) of people posting in the thread, think he is the new Merckx. No need to address everybody as if they all actually believe or agree he is actually the new Merckx.
As far as him coming as close to what Merckx achieved as realistically possible in this day and age... meaning, being able to dominate on a lot of different terrains, one day races, classics, stages, ITT's as well as stageraces (possibly GT's, but who knows at this point) then, i do think he is an outlier, and we will not easily find someone else who will come "as close" any time soon.
He’s got a lot of qualities similar to Bernard Hinault. People were hyped for his first year and expectations were held slightly in check until he broke away in the 2nd Hammer Series and then followed it up with leaving Campanaerts in a ditch in the Tour of Belgium.
The Ionica race showed his weaknesses and his resiliency and then the Clasica San Sebastián win followed by Euro ITT and second at World ITT.
This year he’s won every stage he’s entered won the two TTs and won a climbing stage in the last two stage races.
He’s certainly capable of winning Il Lombardia and the Giro is also a possibility not to mention Belgian ITT World ITT and the World RR which was supposed to be a hilly course in Switzerland.
He could end up with 15 wins on this crazy season, which would bring him to 20 which would an achievement at 20.
Massive potential and he’s still developing and growing. He’s at worst a top 3 TT’er in the world and has shown climbing chops that put him close to the best climbers. He should be even better later this year.
Nothing guaranteed however, so just sit back and see how it unfolds.
This is very true. Some people say that QS will always be a classic team, but there is no way Remco will NOT get a strong GC team backing him the coming seasons.
Your example with Uran is great, when he finished 2nd in Giro he had Poels, Pauwels, Brambilla, De Gendt and Serry with him. Pretty decent team.
If we look at the DQS team now, there is a good base of young promising climbing doms in Almeida, Knox and Bagioli. 1 or2 more established guys and Evenepoel may have one of the best teams behind him already next season..
I've always believed he was special and started hyping him as the next Eddy Merckx with my friends (as a joke).
He has surpassed all of my expectations and at this point I'm kind of afraid he's indeed the new Merckx.
He has surpassed all of my expectations and at this point I'm kind of afraid he's indeed the new Merckx.
Well, not every domestique has to be a mountain goat, so guys like Lampaert, Asgreen etc, could also be part of a GC team. The other thing to keep in mind is that Evenepoel is able to take time on his rivals in more ways than Bernal or Pogacar. He doesn't have to drop everybody on a MTF. He can take minutes in an ITT, he can break away solo from a diminished group of favorites late in a hard stage, he doesn't have to bet it all in the mountains. I mean he doesn't need a 5 guy mountain train.
It will be an extra dimension seeing DQS ripping the race apart in the crosswinds for genuine GC purposes with their GC guy fully contributing to the wreckage rather than just as a demonstration and for a stage win.
Doesn't look like he has the sprint to be the new Merckx.
For comparison, Merckx won a third of the races he entered as a pro, some 500 of 1500! I think most of us have a hard time even imagining what that would have been like to watch, and what it would be like in today's media atmosphere! Not placed, not top 10, but WON a third of his pro races. In the 1969 Tour, he won 3 ITT's, 3 road stages, the overall, the points classification, the mountains classification, as well as the combativity and the combination classifications.
Incredible. No one will ever equal his performances.
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"needs to perform in a GT "..he's about to...hold on.
To be fair today’s racing is much more specialized. That being said the crazy part about Merckx is that he had a horrible crash 1968 that caused him to ride i. pain for the remainder of his career. No crash and he probably wins quite a few more races
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