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

[Wvv]

Remco stopped training on the bike again, due to continuous pain when spending time on the saddle. He is running and swimming now in order to get cardio practice.

The main objectives remain the Giro and the Olympics.

 

[Boes]

I can't imagine he'll be ready for the Giro this way.
Maybe better to just focus on TT olympics and TT WC this year.

 

[Berflamand]

I had a bad feeling about this ever since his social media went quiet and he was nowhere to be seen on the pictures from the training camp.

This does not look good at all to me but he remains rather positive and keeps his main goals (the Giro as first one) for now. There's not much information right now on the severity of the problems he's facing and the estimated recovery time.

I just hope he can make a complete recovery and reach his very special level again even if it's not this year. Time is on his side given his youth so no need to rush it.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I had a bad feeling about this ever since his social media went quiet and he was nowhere to be seen on the pictures from the training camp.

This does not look good at all to me but he remains rather positive and keeps his main goals (the Giro as first one) for now. There's not much information right now on the severity of the problems he's facing and the estimated recovery time.

I just hope he can make a complete recovery and reach his very special level again even if it's not this year. Time is on his side given his youth so no need to rush it.

I'm afraid if this doesn't get resolved this year, it never will.

 

[BlueRoads]

This is very surprising to me, I thought everything was alright. Also I'd even go as far as to say with all those current puncheurs we need someone like Evenepoel, so hopefully it plays out right.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I had a bad feeling about this long before. He started way to early and to fast. He (and his entourage) made a big mistake by cycling so early. And by cycling I mean training on a bike since october/november without completing core stability training. Core stability training is so important, even without heavy injuries such als fractured pelvis and hip. It's possible he may bear the consequences of the entire season and even his entire life. I really hope that he didn't enter his career put at risk. Evenepoel had heavier injurys than Wout Van Aert, who had a better and more professional revalidation.

 

[Berflamand]

I had a bad feeling about this long before. He started way to early and to fast. He (and his entourage) made a big mistake by cycling so early. And by cycling I mean training on a bike since october/november without completing core stability training. Core stability training is so important, even without heavy injuries such als fractured pelvis and hip. It's possible he may bear the consequences of the entire season and even his entire life. I really hope that he didn't enter his career put at risk. Evenepoel had heavier injurys than Wout Van Aert, who had a better and more professional revalidation.

I don't know enough about this stuff to argue if they made mistakes with his recovery or not but if I recall correctly both Evenepoel and Van Aert had the same physiotherapist during their revalidation (Lieven Maesschalck and his team).

 

[Oldermanish]

Remco stopped training on the bike again, due to continuous pain when spending time on the saddle. He is running and swimming now in order to get cardio practice.

The main objectives remain the Giro and the Olympics.

This is not encouraging for a guy this young. Normally the bone healing would be relatively stable unless he was attempting to stay active when he should have been on the couch. Like Froome...this will take time and may define his skill level for awhile. Shame for him and his fans.

 

[Oldermanish]

I don't know enough about this stuff to argue if they made mistakes with his recovery or not but if I recall correctly both Evenepoel and Van Aert had the same physiotherapist during their revalidation (Lieven Maesschalck and his team).

Do they have the same management and promotional staff? He may have been under personal or professional pressure to get back to it. As I said; it would be a great shame if he doesn't get back to his potential.

 

[Bonimenier]

Do they have the same management and promotional staff? He may have been under personal or professional pressure to get back to it. As I said; it would be a great shame if he doesn't get back to his potential.

The most pressure he had probably came from himself. Van Aert came back during the cyclocross season. He already proved himself there the years before so there was little pressure to get excellent results.

 

[Faserr]

Sometimes fighting to be among or the best of the world means to relax and listen to the body. I think that is a lesson some of the motivated young riders still have to learn. Perhaps it is just bad luck, but if he pushed to hard to early that would be a big big mistake of his team. He still has so much time to recover and focus on slow and lasting rehab.

 

[BlueRoads]

I can't imagine DQS pushing him. So far they have always rather held back with everything and spoken of the long-term development. I guess he himself was really eager, but I don't really think he trained when he was told to rest. Sometimes things like this can just be a bit unpredictable?

 

[Koronin]

I do hope he's able to fully recover. Unfortunately that was a very serious injury he suffered and may have long term effects that never fully go away or fully heal.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I don't know enough about this stuff to argue if they made mistakes with his recovery or not but if I recall correctly both Evenepoel and Van Aert had the same physiotherapist during their revalidation (Lieven Maesschalck and his team).

He was treated by the same expert in Herentals as van Aert, and afterwards went to the same physio as well, indeed Lieven Maesschalck. Both among the best in their field worldwide.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

I posted about this a few pages back. Aggressive treatment is preferred method for high performance athletes when surgery is not needed for a hip fracture.

I don't want to be a Debbie downer but this could be an ominous sign.

I really hope he can get back to his former level as I think he was showing potential to become one of the all-time greats.

 

[Andre]

I truly believe this is just a minor setback. The injury was bad...the healing will take a little longer that expected. Just my opinion.

 

[red_flanders]

Yeah, way too early for dire predictions. He’ll be back.

 

[Berflamand]

There's a little more info today in Belgian press.

It seems like he had to be protected from himself. It is Tom Steels and team doctor Philip Jansen who noticed on the first training camp (in december) that he was sitting unnatural and cramped on his bike, probably to relieve himself from pain in the pubic area. He also looked exhausted in the evening after training. Apparently he trained too much the weeks before and went over his limit, resulting in a hormonal imbalance. Evenepoel himself didn't think it was that bad. He thought it was 'part of the game' and he had to suffer to come back stronger.

The team immediately took him off the bike. A new scan also showed that his fracture still shows a millimetre fraction. Now they want him to recover completely first and they aren't going to take any risks. Medically speaking they aren't worried and they should still be on track to be 100% at the start of the Giro.

 

[Berflamand]

His eagerness and competitive character also shows in his revalidation process, even off the bike. Right now he mostly does aquatraining but for him apparently this means that he wants to improve his own record in the 100 meters freestye swimming every single day.

 

[Boes]

Sounds about right.
Good call of DQS of not focussing on the goals for this season, but on the goals for his entire career.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

He was treated by the same expert in Herentals as van Aert, and afterwards went to the same physio as well, indeed Lieven Maesschalck. Both among the best in their field worldwide.

This has nothing to do with it. Evenepoel was already training in Spain in november. Training way too early and too hard. Maesschalck was not in Spain. And was not really supervising. Theoretically Evenepoel was still doing rehabilitation exercises. But not, or hardly on practice. And Evenepoel was not training on flexibility, but was even training uphill. A totally different and wrong approach than Wout Van Aert. So, I'm convinced this will have a (huge) impact on this season, and even on his career.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

Evenepoel was already training in Spain in november. Training way too early and too hard. Maesschalck was not in Spain. And was not really supervising. Theoretically Evenepoel was still doing rehabilitation exercises. But not, or hardly on practice. And Evenepoel was not training on flexibility, but was even training uphill. A totally different and wrong approach than Wout Van Aert. So, I'm convinced this will have a (huge) impact on this season, and even on his career.

 

[Big Doopie]

Instagram post from Cycling Tips just now says he has recently had to stay off the bike due to pain where the pelvis fractures were. Not good.

I really fear that we may ultimately miss out on the many Merckx and Hinault like exploits that I truly believe were imminent. That would be such a great loss for fans of cycling.

 

[Salvarani]

He is young and thought he would bounce back quickly. It is a shame but he will have to learn from the consequences.

Not letting the fracture fully heal has what is sounds like only worsened it and prolonged the recovery process.

It seems like someone might have forgot that getting back from a serious injury is almost as much of a mental journey too. Dealing with a setback will only test him even more in that aspect.

 

[Netserk]

On the upside, maybe this whole bout will teach him some lifelong humility. We'll see.