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

[TMJ]

The disadvantage of not having a strong team around you is incredible.
Every time the camera bike directly in front of the peloton broadcast their pictures of the group you could not see Egan Bernal.
He was completely protected from the wind.
However, competitors like Hugh Carthy and Dan Martin were totally visibly, full face, you could even clearly read all the sponsorship logos across their chests.
Remco was a little more protected than those two, but nowhere near as much as Bernal, getting limited assistance mainly from Almeida.
Therefore when it came to crunch time at the end of the stage Bernal, who is a very strong rider anyway, is the freshest, having spent the least time fighting the elements and enjoying greater team protection.
Tough to beat INEOS.

 

[gmedina]

The disadvantage of not having a strong team around you is incredible.
Every time the camera bike directly in front of the peloton broadcast their pictures of the group you could not see Egan Bernal.
He was completely protected from the wind.
However, competitors like Hugh Carthy and Dan Martin were totally visibly, full face, you could even clearly read all the sponsorship logos across their chests.
Remco was a little more protected than those two, but nowhere near as much as Bernal, getting limited assistance mainly from Almeida.
Therefore when it came to crunch time at the end of the stage Bernal, who is a very strong rider anyway, is the freshest, having spent the least time fighting the elements and enjoying greater team protection.
Tough to beat INEOS.

Are you sure about Bernal being the freshest, not fighting the "elements" ? Not two stages ago Bernal was pulling the top 4, with a headwind, and still outsprinted them...

 

[houtdffan]

Are you sure about Bernal being the freshest, not fighting the "elements" ? Not two stages ago Bernal was pulling the top 4, with a headwind, and still outsprinted them...

that's because Alberto may be the only person Remco can outsprint

 

[Savant12]

Bernal can do 7 w/kg in a 20 min effort? Impossible, that's pantani's world.

We've been told on these forums that Remco can put out Froome numbers. So, Remco is also in Pantani's world.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

How i read it, it was a hypothesis, not a claim.

 

[frisenfruitig]

I'm really curious how the second half of this Giro is going to play out. Bernal has managed to take some seconds with impressive attacks near the finish, but I'm still very curious to see what's going to happen on longer climbs where minutes can be thrown around. I wonder if Evenepoel is going to grow into this Giro as they hope at Quickstep, or if he will have some bad days at the end. Either way he should be happy with the way his comeback has gone so far, it's already impressive enough he can stay close to Bernal like this. He's already better than Yates who is apparently supposed to be a GT rider, not too shabby.

 

[Oldermanish]

The disadvantage of not having a strong team around you is incredible.
Every time the camera bike directly in front of the peloton broadcast their pictures of the group you could not see Egan Bernal.
He was completely protected from the wind.
However, competitors like Hugh Carthy and Dan Martin were totally visibly, full face, you could even clearly read all the sponsorship logos across their chests.
Remco was a little more protected than those two, but nowhere near as much as Bernal, getting limited assistance mainly from Almeida.
Therefore when it came to crunch time at the end of the stage Bernal, who is a very strong rider anyway, is the freshest, having spent the least time fighting the elements and enjoying greater team protection.
Tough to beat INEOS.

And it's likely to get more testing as everyone has had to deal with bad weather and high-stress racing. Igan can manage that, I think. Remco is in bonus time for both his recovery and his age.

 

[Blanco]

that's because Alberto may be the only person Remco can outsprint

Dan Martin and Ciccone were also there, and they're not slow..

 

[Volderke]

...I'd say the majority of cycling fans (excluding the Nibali thread) would say, Nibali was inferior to both Froome and Contador as a GT rider, yet he still managed to win many GTs.

Yes, but then again, we weren't filling forums about Nibali/Contador before they ever finished their first GT

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

The disadvantage of not having a strong team around you is incredible.
Every time the camera bike directly in front of the peloton broadcast their pictures of the group you could not see Egan Bernal.
He was completely protected from the wind.
However, competitors like Hugh Carthy and Dan Martin were totally visibly, full face, you could even clearly read all the sponsorship logos across their chests.
Remco was a little more protected than those two, but nowhere near as much as Bernal, getting limited assistance mainly from Almeida.
Therefore when it came to crunch time at the end of the stage Bernal, who is a very strong rider anyway, is the freshest, having spent the least time fighting the elements and enjoying greater team protection.
Tough to beat INEOS.

I agree. INEOS is by far the strongest team. In the last long run up to the tunnel it was obvious, Bernal was the only rider totally protected from the wind by his team. But that is relative. Evenepoel and two teammates attempted to strike in the crosswind. During 30 seconds the INEOS-riders totally disappeared from the front of the group. But INEOS and other riders could respons. Maybe that effort on the front, and the little incident in the tunnel combined, prevented Evenepoel from responding on the attack and reaction of Bernal, Ciccone and Vlasov.
Evenepoel has the potential to follow or release Bernal on long, difficult but not to steep climbs. But he can just as well because of his relatively poor preparation and his youth explode during one of the
tough mountain rides. And I think he will. And many of the so-called "knowers" of "specialists" will have a judgment .
To know what Evenepoel can really do in a grand tour, we have to wait till the Vuelta, later this year. And even more till the Tour next year, where he will duel for the podium against Pogacar, Roglic and Bernal.

 

[Red Rick]

Bernal can do 7 w/kg in a 20 min effort? Impossible, that's pantani's world.

That's just the differences between in a race and in a lab setting/completely fresh in a training

 

[Big Doopie]

Would be fitting considering there is imo some resemblance there.

been saying this for a while.

does not have hinault's sprint, however, though he is trying to prove otherwise today. LOL!

 

[peterfin]

does not have hinault's sprint, however, though he is trying to prove otherwise today. LOL!

LOL. He decided to train his explosivity a bit or what? Or maybe he was bored and needed some fun? I can imagine that DQS has a hard time to ensure he saves his energy. He has too much at the moment.

If he remains in a good shape, I think it will be very difficult for him to just follow Bernal in the mountains, even if it looks like he would succeed in only losing a minute or so. I know he better saves his energy to maximise his chances but at the same time I hope to see him going all-in in an attack. At that point I know the old Remco is back.

 

[Volderke]

Remco showed some of his flat road potential when he's turning the turbo on.

He may be vulnerable in e.g. a mountain stage if he gets dropped by Bernal, but...
on the other hand, Bernal could actually be as (or even more) vulnerable if Moscon / Ganna are dropped in a hilly / mountain stage and there is a mano-a-mano battle.

Remco can make almost any rider (except Ganna on the flats or a good Bernal on the climbs) feel uncomfortable at any moment, even on terrain where you wouldn't expect attacks.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Remco showed some of his flat road potential when he's turning the turbo on.

He may be vulnerable in e.g. a mountain stage if he gets dropped by Bernal, but...
on the other hand, Bernal could actually be as (or even more) vulnerable if Moscon / Ganna are dropped in a hilly / mountain stage and there is a mano-a-mano battle.

Remco can make almost any rider (except Ganna on the flats or a good Bernal on the climbs) feel uncomfortable at any moment, even on terrain where you wouldn't expect attacks.

This, if he wants to win the Giro he has to ambush his opponents on hilly/rolling terrain. He has never really done a proper high mountain stage with decent altitude (the closest was probably the Misurina stage in the Adriatica-Ionica race 2 years ago), and has never ridden a gt before, he shouldnt count on the fact that he can stay with Bernal on those kind of stages (stage 16 and stage 20).
On those 2 stages you also have the danger of Bernal attacking him on the downhill sections and I don't have much faith in him outperforming a good descender in his first race back after that crash.
Stage 12 could be interesting for him, but someone with his skillset could also try something on stage 15 and stage 18.

 

[Red Rick]

This, if he wants to win the Giro he has to ambush his opponents on hilly/rolling terrain. He has never really done a proper high mountain stage with decent altitude (the closest was probably the Misurina stage in the Adriatica-Ionica race 2 years ago), and has never ridden a gt before, he shouldnt count on the fact that he can stay with Bernal on those kind of stages (stage 16 and stage 20).
On those 2 stages you also have the danger of Bernal attacking him on the downhill sections and I don't have much faith in him outperforming a good descender in his first race back after that crash.
Stage 12 could be interesting for him, but someone with his skillset could also try something on stage 15 and stage 18.

Stage 15, maybe? Mostly I think Montalcino is the main place where Evenepoel would have to win the Giro. Stage 12 I don't buy cause the climbes themselves are pretty normal.

Should be very annoying in a way cause I think Bernal should sit on Evenepoel very tightly a lot in this Giro

 

[spalco]

Remco's biggest superpower, if he gets back to 100%, and I really hope we see this one day, is that he can attack on unassuming "normal" stages and take minutes on the peloton if things go right. At least theoretically, whether that tactic can lead to a GT win remains to be seen.

On some level it wouldn't be so bad if he actually does suck in the high mountains, because then he would have no choice but to try something different...

 

[Mayomaniac]

Remco's biggest superpower, if he gets back to 100%, and I really hope we see this one day, is that he can attack on unassuming "normal" stages and take minutes on the peloton if things go right. At least theoretically, whether that tactic can lead to a GT win remains to be seen.

On some level it wouldn't be so bad if he actually does suck in the high mountains, because then he would have no choice but to try something different...

I guess most people who aren't diehard Remco fans would actually prefer that scenario...

 

[Pinot's goat]

Remco's biggest superpower, if he gets back to 100%, and I really hope we see this one day, is that he can attack on unassuming "normal" stages and take minutes on the peloton if things go right. At least theoretically, whether that tactic can lead to a GT win remains to be seen.

On some level it wouldn't be so bad if he actually does suck in the high mountains, because then he would have no choice but to try something different...

Teams in grand tours are too strong to do performances like Tour of Poland.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Good news is that today he seemed very fresh and comfortable. A moment i thought Ganna was riding away with Bernal, but then he bridged and it seemed he made a statement towards Ganna. Don't know if that was intended, but it felt that way to me. Overtaking Ganna, who had to let go.

I've also been looking at the stage profiles. I'm not so sure Bernal should try to drop Evenepoel on a descent before a final climb. Maybe going solo for so long, including some time in the valley, could bite Bernal in the ass.

Stage 12 and 18 seem more suited than stage 15, going only by profile. I think stage 15 is too easy and will still have some teams trying to keep everything together, and Bernal will have most of his team of rouleurs with him. If Evenepoel attacks, he will not be able to take a lot of time, and it will cost him a lot of energy. Stage 12 is hard because he would need to have got rid of Bernal's minions on the penultimate climb, survive the descent, attack Bernal in the valley and distance him on a 5% climb (which should suit him more than Bernal). He would be very dependent on his team getting him in poleposition over that penultimate climb. A big effort here could also bite him in the ass two days later on the Zoncolan. Stage 18 then, might be the best bet. Have the team drill it on the flat (Cavagna, Keisse, Honoré, Serry) and Masnada and Almeida to catapult him over the first climb. Only a select group should be able to follow here. On the second and third climb, he should attack (squeeze the life out of whoever is still there) and try to go solo. The later in the race (Giro) he goes apeshit, the better. He'll know how deep he can go, how much he has left in the tank. It's the 2nd day after a rest day with two days to follow before the ITT. If an attack goes well there, he has to focus for two more days getting on Bernal's nerves, as he (Bernal) tries to drop him on the climbs.

 

[Red Rick]

There's no way he's just dropping Bernal straight off the wheel on a false flat if Bernal deliberately decides it's time to wheel suck.

 

[Riek s]

Just saw his 'putsch'... Seemed like he rode Bernal straight out of his wheel on the flat... So he is at least going strong enough.. But like many others say, we don't know how he will do in the mountains. While there is no reason to be extremely skeptic on his climbing skills (riding top 10 on MTF is sign of a good climber which i think should be possible), it is still to be seen how close he is to the absolute top.

Personally I believe that as long as he doesn't "act" on the punches of the likes of Bernal and just ups the tempo a bit to reel them in (if he can of course ) he should get very far. How far.. as a Belgian i'm eager to find out ..

Edit: Red Rick, true, on false flat you need an initial gap. without the initial gap and thus the drift advantage it would be extremely hard to drop someone on a false flat. Guess the assumption could be Bernal would be gapped someway or another.

 

[Red Rick]

I think it was a false flat downhill, and Ganna went too hard too early. Narvaez won that little sprint with his eyes closed.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

There's no way he's just dropping Bernal straight off the wheel on a false flat if Bernal deliberately decides it's time to wheel suck.

Hehehe. Is that a wager?

 

[Big Doopie]

Remco's biggest superpower, if he gets back to 100%, and I really hope we see this one day, is that he can attack on unassuming "normal" stages and take minutes on the peloton if things go right. At least theoretically, whether that tactic can lead to a GT win remains to be seen.

well...yes, theoretically. However the team leaders need to be somewhat isolated first so there is no unity in chasing him like in Poland. I actually find it hard to see Bernal being isolated from Inios much. They have too many strong riders. I also think Remco could ship several minutes in the high mountains to an on fire Bernal. I hope I’m wrong. But this Giro is Bernal’s to lose.