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

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PATRICK LEFEVERE IS THINKING OF REMCO EVENEPOEL'S TOUR DEBUT IN 2024

If it is up to Patrick Lefevere, we will only see Remco Evenepoel make his debut in the Tour de France in 2024. The team boss of Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl made this known in conversation with La Dernière Heure . "I would like to see him again in the Giro before he discovers the Tour in 2024," said Lefevere.


“But hey, maybe I'll change my mind. Only fools don't change their minds," Lefevere added. However, the eccentric manager is convinced that Evenepoel is made for big tours. “I don't want to make comparisons, but riders like Chris Froome needed five or six big laps to start winning. I am a patient person and Remco is only 22.”
Giro d'Italia
And so Lefevere is careful. He also points to the 2021 Giro d'Italia, in which Evenepoel made his debut in a grand tour. “Last year we made the mistake of sending Remco to the Giro. That was premature. I don't want to make a mistake like that again. That's why we decided not to send him to the Tour this year," he says. Evenepoel will start in the Vuelta a España . "The goal will be to see what he can do in the general classification."
“Otherwise it makes no sense to talk about Remco as a rider for the big tours. You can't learn without trying,” explains Lefevere. “It is true that the Spanish climbs are not a gift for him, but he may shine in other stages. There are also time trials.”
 
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Another indicator that the guys at QuickStep are just spitballin'. Suddenly Burgos is back on the menu. Last month he needed all the rest he could get to be fresh at the Vuelta. Last year he needed more racing before the Giro. And now we're back to racing before the Vuelta.
Didn´t Remco even say himself that he wasn´t going to ride Burgos to arrive at the Vuelta as fresh as possible? Did this new info come out of the Lefevre interview?
 
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[seankellytoneon] Well, it's a complicated wun[/seankellytoneoff] typically some racing before the big task can sharpen up things just right if overall load is ok.

It depends how big overall load one can handle at the moment. And if overall level is very high it's possible that athlete can take start of the GT kinda easy. For example short tt opening and then few sprinters stages, high level high ftp gc captain can actually recover well inside the bunch. But it depends.

Actually I'm positively surprised that Lefevere thinks Vuelta + Giro first and then Tour 2024, it's the best possible scenario really.
 
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All the talk about Remco and the tour is just promotional bs, aimed at desperate Belgian supporters and sponsors. Lefevre knows this. He will probably win some more classics and smaller tours but never ever a 3 week race.

Can't see him winning a Tour, either, even if they manage to turn him into a GT specialist somehow. Pog and Vingo are climbing as fast as Pharmstrong pretty much. And can TT. They almost make peak Contador look like an average climber.

Good luck beating those guys. Yeah, that will totally happen.

Vuelta - too many variables, but highly unlikely.

But watch the Giro put in 70+kms of ITT next year. Lefevere is already talking about that race. Meaning: he has been in contact with RCS. Could just be about an appearance fee , but I think there's more to it than that.

We know Levefere wasn't satisfied with the 2022 Giro course (which was a joke indeed). Hence, Evenepoel was a no show.

I'm guessing/hoping RCS realize by now that their desperate attempts to attract Pog are just that. Evenepoel brings the drama and the international viewers. They need him - IMO.
 
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All the talk about Remco and the tour is just promotional bs, aimed at desperate Belgian supporters and sponsors. Lefevre knows this. He will probably win some more classics and smaller tours but never ever a 3 week race.

Van Aert, Sagan, MVDP, Alaphilippe don't have the ability of winning a 3 week race does it mean that they should just skip them?

Furthermore Evenepoel didn't finish a GT yet so there is no way one can be certain that he doesn't have what it takes to win
 
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C
Can't see him winning a Tour, either, even if they manage to turn him into a GT specialist somehow. Pog and Vingo are climbing as fast as Pharmstrong pretty much. And can TT. They almost make peak Contador look like an average climber.

Good luck beating those guys. Yeah, that will totally happen.

Vuelta - too many variables, but highly unlikely.

But watch the Giro put in 70+kms of ITT next year. Lefevere is already talking about that race. Meaning: he has been in contact with RCS. Could just be about an appearance fee , but I think there's more to it than that.

We know Levefere wasn't satisfied with the 2022 Giro course (which was a joke indeed). Hence, Evenepoel was a no show.

I'm guessing/hoping RCS realize by now that their desperate attempts to attract Pog are just that. Evenepoel brings the drama and the international viewers. They need him - IMO.
Contador pre-clengate was better than Pharmstrong climbing
 
You think he won't ride a GT in 2023?
I dont see him doing the Giro next year because his past experience and it being likely not a good parcours for him so only the Vuelta will remain again?

I just think 2023 should be a good year for him to do the Tour. The expectatione will be skyhigh but they will always.

This year was too early as he has not yet finished a GT but that should br solved with the Vuelta.

2024 is also the olympic year.I assume he will at least have medal ambitions for at least the TT so doing his first tour then would not be ideal for that.
 
It's no surprise that QS will bring a sprinter to the Vuelta as Remco is not proven as a GC rider at a GT, so it makes no sense to build a whole team around him.
They are also bringing Alaphilippe who will bring his personal domestique. So there was never going to be a whole team build around him. Further diluting the squad with a sprinter and likely at least one leadout guy, is nothing short of moronic.
 
It's as much bs to say he's never gonna win GT, completely bs.

He's entered this game from non-traditional route (futsal, foot massage.. what's that thing anyways? table tennis?) but he's showing that much already and he just needs to go forward these steps that he's going. And he's going stable and well. Racing stage races goes forward. What he did in Liege, big step, tt he can. It's all going forward. As I earlier said, now they talking, when PL said what they're planning with GT's for him.

He needs to get better in different areas, but it's possible. When you're number 4 at UCI-ranking and you're 22 yrs, you have time to hone your skills yet more and still excel.
 
Lol, because no one under 24 has ever rode the Tour. Apart 24 (nice coincident) riders this year and hundreds if not thousands before...
 

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