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

[Jumbot]

Good luck to all the other GC contenders for Vuelta, they're like lambs going to the slaughterhouse...
I would be very surprised if he doesn't win in Spain...
And next year in France, who knows with this beast form

 

[AlfaLum]

Will be interesting to see if he can reach this level in the vuelta after many stages. For me that could be his remaining weakness.

But he seems to have dealt with most of his other weaknesses that he had before.

 

[Riek s]

The only worry at this point is if he (and his team) have timed his peak right. There's 6 weeks to the last mountain stage of the Vuelta.

Now that we see some numbers about how much he pushed on those climbs... and it resembles a top shaped pocagar/vingegaard, roglic ... i think you are right.... he seems to be extremely good, probably too good atm. Think he will need to tone it down really good for the next weeks.

 

[Mayomaniac]

No more chubster Remco?
Seriously, he looked really skinny after the race, proper gc rider upper body (or lack of it).

 

[Riek s]

Was looking at the procycling stats and something caught my eye.

He already did as many race days this season as WVA who raced the TDF. Ofcourse he did a lot more smaller stage races, but maybe they should tone that part down a bit more. And he is going for the Vuelta... so his GC still needs to be ridden.

Remco: 7093 km in 43 days
WVA: 7205 km in 43 days
Pogacar: 7583 km in 46 days
Vingegaard: 7351 km in 47 days

Migt be one of the reasons why he struggled with freshness.. given he did about the same amount of races as the others at this point in time, but before the tour...

 

[houtdffan]

Was looking at the procycling stats and something caught my eye.

He already did as many race days this season as WVA who raced the TDF. Ofcourse he did a lot more smaller stage races, but maybe they should tone that part down a bit more. And he is going for the Vuelta... so his GC still needs to be ridden.

Remco: 7093 km in 43 days
WVA: 7205 km in 43 days
Pogacar: 7583 km in 46 days
Vingegaard: 7351 km in 47 days

Migt be one of the reasons why he struggled with freshness.. given he did about the same amount of races as the others at this point in time, but before the tour...

he didn't struggle with freshness in Suisse

He had a heat event. He struggled with remembering to wear the correct helmet and bringing the ice. Same as Armstrong did in 2003. Even Armstrong was dropped on back to back days in the Pyrenees as a result, so it should be no surprise Remco struggled in the high mountains after his near heat stroke

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I don't think the amount of race days is an issue, especially considering he only raced 2 weeks between Liège and Vuelta. But i still can't understand why they would send him to Tirreno to ''test'' him against Pogacar when he was just too heavy to compete. I think he should have done Tirreno (considering the circumstances, in hindsight) just to build his base and go for a stagewin, instead of GC.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

evolution from 3 years ago: from riding away after being dropped to an unlikely solo win to riding away at a climb literally destroying everyone and riding +2 minutes away.

Unstoppable.

Yet I'm keeping my prediction for Vuelta more to stage win(s). Still not great faith in his GC skills over 3 weeks

 

[Barnacle Bill]

This Remco kid has potential.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I’d like to see if he could pull off a long range attack in MSR if it’s raced hard enough and he has Alaphilippe in the chase group.

 

[Big Doopie]

I’d like to see if he could pull off a long range attack in MSR if it’s raced hard enough and he has Alaphilippe in the chase group.

Tough, because to have success he needs there to be a lack of organization or a depleted chase behind him. The MSR route does not really make that possible. He could get away, but there will be a lot of almost full teams set to chase him down.

 

[Red Rick]

Tough, because to have success he needs there to be a lack of organization or a depleted chase behind him. The MSR route does not really make that possible. He could get away, but there will be a lot of almost full teams set to chase him down.

They did a super fast Cipressa this year and the main group wasn't far behind at the bottom of the Poggio. Also the Cipressa descent is super technical.

If you wanna use Evenepoel in Sanremo, then you let bring 5 guys to the front at the bottom of the Poggio, let Evenepoel attack, and then hope no top contender is on the wheel. If he gets a gap you just let the chase unravel.

 

[houtdffan]

Did you even watch the Tour? At all?

Pog was also playing the Jumbo games of accelerating and slowing

Pog should have just went to the front and dieseled his way up the Galiber, like Remco did today

 

[Big Doopie]

They did a super fast Cipressa this year and the main group wasn't far behind at the bottom of the Poggio. Also the Cipressa descent is super technical.

If you wanna use Evenepoel in Sanremo, then you let bring 5 guys to the front at the bottom of the Poggio, let Evenepoel attack, and then hope no top contender is on the wheel. If he gets a gap you just let the chase unravel.

i am still not sure i want to see remco risking all on the poggio descent...

i would like him to have a long career.

 

[houtdffan]

Tough, because to have success he needs there to be a lack of organization or a depleted chase behind him. The MSR route does not really make that possible. He could get away, but there will be a lot of almost full teams set to chase him down.

Could be possible if La Manie is ever returned to the race. QS could drop many of the sprinters doms 90-100km from the finish

 

[SHAD0W93]

Could be possible if La Manie is ever returned to the race. QS could drop many of the sprinters doms 90-100km from the finish

If he was Italian they might have changed the route to reinclude it.

 

[Riek s]

They did a super fast Cipressa this year and the main group wasn't far behind at the bottom of the Poggio. Also the Cipressa descent is super technical.

If you wanna use Evenepoel in Sanremo, then you let bring 5 guys to the front at the bottom of the Poggio, let Evenepoel attack, and then hope no top contender is on the wheel. If he gets a gap you just let the chase unravel.

Think he would have a bigger chance if he makes it to the bottom of the pogio with a select group and he escapes from it.

But i won't see him win MSR (I doubt we will even see him try to win it).

If he was Italian they might have changed the route to reinclude it.

They would build such ramps at the end, and say they were put there for eco reasons... and now the riders need to go over it.

 

[jflemaire]

He wasn't dropped, he had a mechanical.

Ah, OK. I had forgotten. Still not ideal, though.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

not sure it works as simply as that tho. if he has to go deep in the red to not lose too much time in the high mountains, he won't be able to do long raids on the hilly stages to gain time.

he needs to show great 3-week recovery and defend/diesel well in the high mountains.

QS also has to demonstrate that they know how to refuel a GT rider throughout 3 weeks...

my hope is that better prep will allow him to demonstrate that (unlike Giro last year).

i like his stated plan of being aggressive and trying to win both TTs (the TTT and ITT). After the ITT, he can then see where he is at in GC and decide whether to work on that or use the rest of the Vuelta for WC prep.

i don't want him worn out at end of Vuelta (unless he podiums) because then WC battle with Pog is out the window.

Good analysis.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I assume that if they just focussed on volume in the last episode, that shouldn't be a problem. But yeah, we never know with Remco, he might be doing more than is told or than was publicly stated.

I only believe very limited in the story of training based only. He admitted that he did train on intensity the week after the altitude training camp.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I don't think the amount of race days is an issue, especially considering he only raced 2 weeks between Liège and Vuelta. But i still can't understand why they would send him to Tirreno to ''test'' him against Pogacar when he was just too heavy to compete. I think he should have done Tirreno (considering the circumstances, in hindsight) just to build his base and go for a stagewin, instead of GC.

Agree. Evenepoel and his entourage have to learn to ride some competitions and small stage races in preparation. Without being in top shape and without wanting to ride results. The only chance to ever make it to the podium in a Grand Tour. Leaving Burgos out is already a good decision. But the fact remains that Evenepoel, even without competition, is (almost)in top form six weeks before the end of the Vuelta
And that's way too early. So I fear that he will go under again in the second half of the Vuelta.

 

[IndianCyclist]

He is one of the greatest assets to have for a mid range/long range solo attack to succeed. It also needs ether a bit of luck or the teams behind looking at each other or a suitable parcour or a teammate as a foil. lets hope that he or his team dont have a collective brain meltdown like the WC.

 

[houtdffan]

He is one of the greatest assets to have for a mid range/long range solo attack to succeed. It also needs ether a bit of luck or the teams behind looking at each other or a suitable parcour or a teammate as a foil. lets hope that he or his team dont have a collective brain meltdown like the WC.

He didnt exactly have a favorable course today, nor was there a teammate as a foil.

He simply went out and kicked ass

 

[Wvv]

Translated from Het Nieuwsblad.

Remco Evenepoel is already looking ahead after a high-profile victory The Tour has barely been digested, but there is Remco Evenepoel. With an impressive solo, the 22-year-old super talent won the Clasica San Sebastian for the second time in his career. Next to Wout van Aert, Belgium clearly has a second gem. His story! Remco, is this your most sensational victory ever? “Maybe because of the way, but I grade my victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège still a bit higher than this one. But I highly value this win because of the team's perfect work. They have done a fantastic job. I was delivered perfectly at the foot of every climb.” Was this the plan? “The plan was for Pieter Serry to set the pace on the Jaizkibel. And he did that perfectly by riding two of the best climbers in the world (Pogacar, ed.) off the wheels. Then he would continue his effort to the foot of the Erlaitz. There it was intended that James Knox would take over, but suddenly EF Education decided to attack.” The start of your demonstration? “I saw that everything exploded behind us. So I decided to pick up the pace myself, after which only Simon Yates could follow. Okay, with two is good, but a little later he also had to let go. From then on it became a long effort to the finish. I quickly had a one minute lead, at the top of the last slope I had more than two minutes. That's when I knew I shouldn't take too many risks anymore." Is this the new cycling: few races, win a lot? “It's not that I had a small amount of race days this year. Recently I haven't raced that much, but I've trained a lot, perhaps the equivalent of a Grand Tour. Physically I may not have been fresh, but mentally I was. So yes, maybe this is the new way to prepare big goals. On the other hand, I have 45 race days on the counter which is already quite a lot." "That is also the reason why I am not doing the Tour of Burgos. After the Vuelta and hopefully the World Championships, I will close my season with about seventy competition days. Which is quite a lot! And believe me, the next few weeks will not be a holiday either.” Does this victory provide extra confidence regarding the Vuelta? “Gosh, this was a one-day race, the Vuelta lasts three weeks. But we showed today that the team is ready and that I am good. If everything goes according to plan, I will be a few percent better at the start of the Vuelta. But my expectations do not change. A stage win and a place in the top ten of the final classification are the goal and the dream. If it turns out to be better later, I will be very satisfied.”

Certainly the last paragraph is interesting. Think it's the first time he put a number on his GC ambitions in the Vuelta.

 

[Riek s]

after which only Simon Yates could follow. Okay, with two is good, but a little later he also had to let go

lol, he makes it seem as if he was accidently pushing 7W/kg on the Erlaitz...

Physically I may not have been fresh, but mentally I was.

I hope he will start physically fresh at the vuelta... if it is only mental... I don't think he will make the 3rd week.

If everything goes according to plan, I will be a few percent better at the start of the Vuelta

Depends on what aspect he thinks to improve, but his short climb performance is at his all time high already. Hopefully he doesn't misjudge himself.