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

[Oldermanish]

Evenepoel in good shape will always be better in long TTs.

So 22.4km is too short?

 

[JosefK]

So 22.4km is too short?

Still a good effort from little Eddy, I think.

 

[DaLong]

To his credit, he was humble on his Instagram and just admitted Ganna and Kung were stronger and he was happy for his result.

 

[SHAD0W93]

So 22.4km is too short?

Let them race a 75km TT.

 

[Netserk]

Let them race a 75km TT.

With 80 km they could have done a loop around Bondone.

 

[tobydawq]

And with 3000 they could have visited me and returned to Trento.

 

[DaLong]

And with 3000 they could have visited me and returned to Trento.

Lachlan for gold.

 

[Netserk]

And with 3000 they could have visited me and returned to Trento.

GP des Nations was 75 km long as late as in this century (~85 km as late as in the '90s). It's less absurd than the 22 km of today.

 

[tobydawq]

GP des Nations was 75 km long as late as in this century. It's less absurd than the 22 km of today.

I know, it was an - admittedly - rather pitiful attempt at being funny.

 

[red_flanders]

GP des Nations was 75 km long as late as in this century (~90 km as late as in the '90s). It's less absurd than the 22 km of today.

100%. I struggle to see the point of a TT less than an hour in duration.

 

[Red Rick]

Cool can I also have my Tours with prologue and 9 bunchsprints before hitting any mountain back?

 

[dercuforever]

Cool can I also have my Tours with prologue and 9 bunchsprints before hitting any mountain back?

In moderns time that would mean at best 3 GC contenders uninjured at the strat of stage 11.

 

[hayneplane]

Strong ride today in a field very deep in TT talent beating the likes of Bisseger, Affini and Asgreen on a course far more suited to those riders and losing only a few seconds to great rides from Kung and Ganna.

 

[Red Rick]

In moderns time that would mean at best 3 GC contenders uninjured at the strat of stage 11.

Kelderman vs Meintjes vs G. Martin it is then.

 

[Flurk1982]

So 22.4km is too short?

Yes indeed but a good performance of Remco.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Strong ride today in a field very deep in TT talent beating the likes of Bisseger, Affini and Asgreen on a course far more suited to those riders and losing only a few seconds to great rides from Kung and Ganna.

Far more suited? Come on. Evenepoel has always excelled on flat courses, as well as rolling ones, but pan flat ones too, like the 2019 European Championships TT.

Yes indeed but a good performance of Remco.

The data doesn't support that ~22km is too short for him, IMO. He may think so, but I see no evidence of it in his TT results up until now.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Has this guy never heard of Remco???

Meet cycling's new GC hierarchy: ranking the 2021 grand tour racing season

Cycling's ‘Big Three’ split the grand tours between them in 2021, but will they end up in a ‘Battle Royale’ next year at the Tour de France?

www.velonews.com

 

[Red Rick]

Far more suited? Come on. Evenepoel has always excelled on flat courses, as well as rolling ones, but pan flat ones too, like the 2019 European Championships TT.

The data doesn't support that ~22km is too short for him, IMO. He may think so, but I see no evidence of it in his TT results up until now.

He's done how many 40+ km ITTs?

I think half the longer is better is just from him being better at 25 minute ITTs than the 10 minute prologue type ITTs and short ITTs in the short stage races he's done.

 

[Volderke]

He's obviously quite good at riding solo for 50-100kms in most races he won, so it wouldn't surprise me if he smashes 40+K TT, especially rolling terrain.
His chances for sunday in the RR depend very much on how controlled the race is (or can be controlled) by some teams. If there isn't any team controlling affairs, I have Great Expectations for the small bambi boy.

 

[Riek s]

Far more suited? Come on. Evenepoel has always excelled on flat courses, as well as rolling ones, but pan flat ones too, like the 2019 European Championships TT.

Evenepoel is clearly a rider that doesn't make the difference with power alone. Heck in terms of raw power he will be on the low end of the spectrum. He is very good in flat time trials where his aerodynamics give him an edge to compete with his power output.

So my guess is that the wind direction makes a huge difference in his flat TT performance. he will probably be better with a head wind than with a tailwind.

In terms of course length, I believe this typically refers to him not being explosive. So the shorter the TT, the more explosiveness comes into picture. That said, I think sub 10km is where explosiveness really helps.

 

[Oldermanish]

Evenepoel is clearly a rider that doesn't make the difference with power alone. Heck in terms of raw power he will be on the low end of the spectrum. He is very good in flat time trials where his aerodynamics give him an edge to compete with his power output.

So my guess is that the wind direction makes a huge difference in his flat TT performance. he will probably be better with a head wind than with a tailwind.

In terms of course length, I believe this typically refers to him not being explosive. So the shorter the TT, the more explosiveness comes into picture. That said, I think sub 10km is where explosiveness really helps.

This is a good analysis as some of the best TT'ers I've seen were lighter, but able to find a balance between aero positioning and great cadence/pacing into headwinds. They weren't power pursuiters but could rely on endurance which Remco has at a young age. He should work on power as well, though, while he's still growing and maturing. You need that serious punch to close gaps quickly if you want to win 3 week races. Hanging out for 30km is not sustainable for GTs.

PS: I was more or less joking about the shorter distance but it does seem bizarre that the TT Championship is under 40km.

 

[Red Rick]

This is a good analysis as some of the best TT'ers I've seen were lighter, but able to find a balance between aero positioning and great cadence/pacing into headwinds. They weren't power pursuiters but could rely on endurance which Remco has at a young age. He should work on power as well, though, while he's still growing and maturing. You need that serious punch to close gaps quickly if you want to win 3 week races. Hanging out for 30km is not sustainable for GTs.

PS: I was more or less joking about the shorter distance but it does seem bizarre that the TT Championship is under 40km.

For Euros with a seemingly inconvenient spot on the calendar I can understand, although I'd prefer them to be between 30 and 35km tbh.

Also punch is a bit overrated if you're aerobically better, plus Evenepoel should be the worst wheel to suck anyways.

 

[Oldermanish]

For Euros with a seemingly inconvenient spot on the calendar I can understand, although I'd prefer them to be between 30 and 35km tbh.

Also punch is a bit overrated if you're aerobically better, plus Evenepoel should be the worst wheel to suck anyways.

I would put the ability to close gaps on a par with being aerobically strong. A true GT Champ can do both and have to balance those attributes based on the parcours. I think that is what cost Roglic his 2019 Tour. You can only go to the aerobic well to attack or defend so long, too.

 

[Red Rick]

I would put the ability to close gaps on a par with being aerobically strong. A true GT Champ can do both and have to balance those attributes based on the parcours. I think that is what cost Roglic his 2019 Tour. You can only go to the aerobic well to attack or defend so long, too.

Roglic vs Pogacar wasn't really about anaerobic vs aerobic. In fact, the only time that Roglic dropped Pogacar was on the only climb over an hour long and over 2000m in altitdue, though we you might argue that anaerobic ability actually gets more important at altitude if you start a climb fresh.

 

[Oldermanish]

Roglic vs Pogacar wasn't really about anaerobic vs aerobic. In fact, the only time that Roglic dropped Pogacar was on the only climb over an hour long and over 2000m in altitdue, though we you might argue that anaerobic ability actually gets more important at altitude if you start a climb fresh.

I'd say his sacrifice for aerobic capacity at altitude came at the expense of power for his TT. This Vuelta showed a better balance of the attributes but that's only a guess since we can't know the stress levels for each GT. Either way; he figured out the blend at the Vuelta.