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

[Krzysztof_O]

Are you saying Remco is winning the Vuelta?

Pog & Rog will kill each other in July. Unless the latter crashes out of the Tour Remco has a chance.

 

[Big Doopie]

Are you saying Remco is winning the Vuelta?

I don’t think I did. I reread my post and I definitely did not say that. Funny how you read it that way…;-)

 

[Oldermanish]

Pog & Rog will kill each other in July. Unless the latter crashes out of the Tour Remco has a chance.

Now with Carapaz focusing on the race it will be a punch free-for all. At least I hope it will. That might not be to Remco's comfort zone on steeper stages.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

Now with Carapaz focusing on the race it will be a punch free-for all. At least I hope it will. That might not be to Remco's comfort zone on steeper stages.

I think La Vuelta will end up being the most interesting of the three Grand Tours.

The Giro was mostly a snooze fest.

The TDF will be animated to an extent, but I get the impression that even with a super strong team that Roglic will not be able to beat Pogacar. I think the knee issue is still lingering and Roglic almost needs Pogacar to be less than 100%

We haven't seen Pogacar race since La Fleche Wallonne (4/20), which should raise some issues about his fitness.

Carapaz ups the ante but he's not exactly someone who has animated races.

I think there are a lot more interesting riders at La vuelta including his own teammate Carlos Rodriguez.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

We haven't seen Pogacar race since La Fleche Wallonne (4/20), which should raise some issues about his fitness.

Absolutely not. He had a similar break last year (between LBL and Slovenia). If anything, the longer the break the better for him (time to rest after his spring peak and build another peak for July). He hits peak form with little racing. BTW judging by his doctor's smile after "a hard one" Mortirolo and Pog's tired look it seems they did a successful wattage test there.

 

[red_flanders]

hmmm.

THJ, TGH, and Chaves seem to be holding up well with the best at dauphine. after running into a buzz saw in Norway.

just reading the tea leaves and being hopeful.

Would have been REALLY interesting to see how Remco would have done on this flat TT against that group.

 

[hayneplane]

I think La Vuelta will end up being the most interesting of the three Grand Tours.

The Giro was mostly a snooze fest.

The TDF will be animated to an extent, but I get the impression that even with a super strong team that Roglic will not be able to beat Pogacar. I think the knee issue is still lingering and Roglic almost needs Pogacar to be less than 100%

We haven't seen Pogacar race since La Fleche Wallonne (4/20), which should raise some issues about his fitness.

Carapaz ups the ante but he's not exactly someone who has animated races.

I think there are a lot more interesting riders at La vuelta including his own teammate Carlos Rodriguez.

Pogi has not missed any scheduled races bar LBL for obvious family reasons so given he wasn’t due to race before Tour of Slovenia I see no reason to be concerned about his TDF state of readiness.

 

[dercuforever]

I'm so hype for the TDS ... Let's see if Remco manages to follow Vlasov, Martinez and Yates.
I think he will try on almost every stages so it could be great.
Very mountainous route, good testing ground for the Vuelta prep.

 

[Oldermanish]

I think La Vuelta will end up being the most interesting of the three Grand Tours.

The Giro was mostly a snooze fest.

The TDF will be animated to an extent, but I get the impression that even with a super strong team that Roglic will not be able to beat Pogacar. I think the knee issue is still lingering and Roglic almost needs Pogacar to be less than 100%

We haven't seen Pogacar race since La Fleche Wallonne (4/20), which should raise some issues about his fitness.

Carapaz ups the ante but he's not exactly someone who has animated races.

I think there are a lot more interesting riders at La vuelta including his own teammate Carlos Rodriguez.

Carapaz forced the pace alot in TdF '20. The climb to Courcheval was all him until Roglic got serious. Also in that or previous Vuelta. Pogacar has the edge IMO.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

I'm so hype for the TDS ... Let's see if Remco manages to follow Vlasov, Martinez and Yates.
I think he will try on almost every stages so it could be great.
Very mountainous route, good testing ground for the Vuelta prep.

They'll all probably try to attack so hard so I'm hoping he (and the car) has the sense to engage diesel mode.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

They'll all probably try to attack so hard so I'm hoping he (and the car) has the sense to engage diesel mode.

Depends where they want to attack. If they attack in the first few stages, they risk of getting the boomerang right in their face.

 

[Big Doopie]

Depends where they want to attack. If they attack in the first few stages, they risk of getting the boomerang right in their face.

agreed. I actually believe they will prep for Remco to attack. Martinez has been very able to follow such an attack in the early part of the season.

the question for me is does QS have the quality to whittle down a team like Ineos. I do not believe so. And Remco attacking when Ineos still has 4-5 in the group is not something I would recommend.

so it should be interesting. And likely more exciting than the present Dauphine snore fest.

 

[Bolder]

Would have been REALLY interesting to see how Remco would have done on this flat TT against that group.

Well, in all likelihood he would have been 3rd or 4th yesterday, maybe a little faster than Roglic. "Heavy" Remco could have been within 30 seconds of Ganna/Wout, I think.

Wout's performance was remarkable, actually. He'd done X times the work of Ganna the day before and still tied him. If a few things had broken his way he'd have won all 4 stages. It's a shame he seems to prefer second place to first...

 

[hayneplane]

Well, in all likelihood he would have been 3rd or 4th yesterday, maybe a little faster than Roglic. "Heavy" Remco could have been within 30 seconds of Ganna/Wout, I think.

Wout's performance was remarkable, actually. He'd done X times the work of Ganna the day before and still tied him. If a few things had broken his way he'd have won all 4 stages. It's a shame he seems to prefer second place to first...

I think it is certainly reasonable to suggest even in climbing oriented prep and shape he could have got in and around the position of Ethan Hayter yesterday who did arguably the best ride of his career and that on a flat course like that beating Roglic by 20 seconds would not be an outrageous proposition. Matching Ganna and Van Aert while focussing on climbing is a whole different game.

 

[Red Rick]

Roglic hasnt proven he can beat Ramco in flat TT

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

I think it is certainly reasonable to suggest even in climbing oriented prep and shape he could have got in and around the position of Ethan Hayter yesterday who did arguably the best ride of his career and that on a flat course like that beating Roglic by 20 seconds would not be an outrageous proposition. Matching Ganna and Van Aert while focussing on climbing is a whole different game.

I think that too. Hayter and Van Aert’s rides were incredible when you’d imagine that Ganna has the luxury of being able to spend more time on a TT bike than riders who have other objectives.
I know it was a while ago now but at the 2019 Euros, Ganna didn’t podium and iirc that was a flattish course.

 

[spalco]

I think that too. Hayter and Van Aert’s rides were incredible when you’d imagine that Ganna has the luxury of being able to spend more time on a TT bike than riders who have other objectives.
I know it was a while ago now but at the 2019 Euros, Ganna didn’t podium and iirc that was a flattish course.

To be fair: Van Aert of course is an incredible cyclist in general and Hayter might be a future star as well.

 

[hayneplane]

To be fair: Van Aert of course is an incredible cyclist in general and Hayter might be a future star as well.

Possibly a touched bias towards a fellow brit but Hayter feels to me like a mini Wout. Fast finisher on the flat or uphill in semi selective stages and a very strong ITT guy. Where they differ is Hayter often loses opportunities by being allergic to fighting to hold position near the front and he has never ridden the cobbled classics. Clearly as an overall rider he is a couple of levels down from Van Aert.

 

[red_flanders]

Well, in all likelihood he would have been 3rd or 4th yesterday, maybe a little faster than Roglic. "Heavy" Remco could have been within 30 seconds of Ganna/Wout, I think.

Wout's performance was remarkable, actually. He'd done X times the work of Ganna the day before and still tied him. If a few things had broken his way he'd have won all 4 stages. It's a shame he seems to prefer second place to first...

I don't find results that easy to predict. You could be right of course that it may have gone that way, but I also think there's a very real chance he could have challenged for the win.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He put Hayter over a minute back in a 32k ITT in Algarve with one hill (well within the capabilities of Hayter), when Evenepoel was hardly in his best form (considering Valencia before, and TIrreno after). He mopped the floor with Hayter in Norway little over a week ago, including in the stages that were tailored to Hayter. I'm inclined to think he could very well have contended for the win in the Dauphiné TT, unless Hayter improved his form considerably over a week. Let's not forget Van Aert had to go deep the day before, and still nearly beat Ganna.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Seeing how well Halland Johannessen and Chaves (and to a degree Tao) climbs in Dauphine it does make me very excited to see Remco climb in Switzerland…

 

[Riek s]

Well,

Seeing how well Halland Johannessen and Chaves (and to a degree Tao) climbs in Dauphine it does make me very excited to see Remco climb in Switzerland…

indeed..
in norway:

4

Johannessen Tobias Halland

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

+ 01:21​

07

Chaves Esteban

EF Education-EasyPost

+ 01:24​

​

10

Geoghegan Hart Tao

INEOS Grenadiers

+ 01:56​

In Dauphiné:

5

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

+39 +26

6

EF Education - EasyPost

+40 +27

9

INEOS Grenadiers

+48 +35

(edit: correction of 13seconds because roglic didn't win the stage)

Clearly the differences between Tobias/Chavez/Hart haven't changed much, if any.

Mountains and race are ofcourse ridden differently, but guess Remco would have at least been combatting for the win here.

 

[hayneplane]

Well,


indeed..
in norway:

4

Johannessen Tobias Halland

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

+ 01:21​

07

Chaves Esteban

EF Education-EasyPost

+ 01:24​

​

10

Geoghegan Hart Tao

INEOS Grenadiers

+ 01:56​

In Dauphiné:

5

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

+39 +26

6

EF Education - EasyPost

+40 +27

9

INEOS Grenadiers

+48 +35

(edit: correction of 13seconds because roglic didn't win the stage)

Clearly the differences between Tobias/Chavez/Hart haven't changed much, if any.

Mountains and race are ofcourse ridden differently, but guess Remco would have at least been combatting for the win here.

He wouldn’t have matched the Roglstomp but if he had preempted it and gone for it 4-5km out then possible he could have won today if in the race.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He wouldn’t have matched the Roglstomp but if he had preempted it and gone for it 4-5km out then possible he could have won today if in the race.

You mean he would have dropped Roglic by a minute and then Roglic would have sprinted and taken 10s back.

 

[Rackham]

Well,


indeed..
in norway:

4

Johannessen Tobias Halland

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

+ 01:21​

07

Chaves Esteban

EF Education-EasyPost

+ 01:24​

​

10

Geoghegan Hart Tao

INEOS Grenadiers

+ 01:56​

In Dauphiné:

5

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

+39 +26

6

EF Education - EasyPost

+40 +27

9

INEOS Grenadiers

+48 +35

(edit: correction of 13seconds because roglic didn't win the stage)

Clearly the differences between Tobias/Chavez/Hart haven't changed much, if any.

Mountains and race are ofcourse ridden differently, but guess Remco would have at least been combatting for the win here.

Respectfully, they did the Galibier & the Croix de Fer today. I don't believe Norway has such monsters.

Evenepoel is clearly a massive talent (I don't argue that point) & honestly based on his ability will most likely compete for the biggest wins.

But not everything is comparable, i.e. until Evenepoel has been in a race like this Dauphiné at this time of the year (as Tour prep) & competed for the win against a rider like Roglic after passing some of the most famous French Alpine cols, I wouldn't jump to such conclusions.