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

[Boes]

I think cobbles classic is not suitable together with Giro. If he wants to ride well in the cobble classics he needs a little bit more muscle mass and I don't think it's enough time to lose weight between cobble classics and Giro. Maybe there is time between cobble classics and Tour, but I don't think it's smart to mix it up dramatically already at this young age when it comes to race calendar.

I think QuickStep should plan next season something like this when it comes to leaders:
Cobbles: Asgreen & Senechal
Ardennes: Evenepoel & Alaphilippe
Giro: Remco (give him the best support: Hirt, Van Wilder, Masnada, Cattaneo, Vervaeke + 2 strong roleurs)
Tour: Jakobsen & Alaphilippe
Vuelta: Merlier & Van Wilder/Masnada/Hirt

Then have Remco building the second part of season around WC and Lombardia. Should be fitting well with San Sebastian, Canadian races and maybe something like Benelux Tour for the home fans.
Then all in Tour de France 2024 with a standard P-N + Itulzia + Ardennes + Dauphine preparation. Hopefully by 2024 QuickStep have been able to get in a superdom for the mountains.

Makes sence.
Not on topic, but the cobbles section of Quickstep is clearly weaker then it was in the pre-remco/pre-GC ambition.

 

[Berniece]

Makes sence.
Not on topic, but the cobbles section of Quickstep is clearly weaker then it was in the pre-remco/pre-GC ambition.

He forgot Lampaert , but still not as strong as pre-Remco.

 

[tobydawq]

Only Merckx, Battaglin and Contador were able to successfully win both races in the same year. But the dates used to be different in the past, the Vuelta wasn't at the end of the year, so not sure how that actually worked. Nonetheless, it's going to be very difficult to win both.

I think the Giro started four days after the Vuelta or something like that. It was nuts that two guys managed to win both.

 

[fox]

Why not try cobbles classics and leave Ardennes for Alaphippe?

Evenepoel has done the Brabantse pijl en he said that he suffered on the cobbles and that he really doesn't like them. I don't think he will ever do them.

 

[hayneplane]

One consequence I would think of going for a Giro-Vuelta season would be that any thought of trying to peak for the national championships in mid/late June would have to be pushed way down the list of priorities. You would think that surely the Belgian selectors would amend their rules in that case and not require him to be top 2 in the nats TT or to ride in the road race even when the course is not suited to him.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

Evenepoel has done the Brabantse pijl en he said that he suffered on the cobbles and that he really doesn't like them. I don't think he will ever do them.

It's something he may revisit later in his career especially if he wins Lombardia and MSR.

 

[Oldermanish]

Based on what we've seen this past Vuelta I don't think it's too ambitious for his talent. I might be biased, because he's one of my favourite riders, but with proper preparation I think winning 2 GT's in 1 year is definitely possible for him.

What you saw this Vuelta was arguably GT-lite compared to the Giro and the Tour. If he wanted a double he'd be best doing what many here have suggested and tackle the Giro first. Depending on recovery the Vuelta would seem a reasonable second attempt.
We should wait until early next season to heap expectations on him. He's got a great handle on single day events to satisfy him as well.

 

[red_flanders]

Evenepoel has done the Brabantse pijl en he said that he suffered on the cobbles and that he really doesn't like them. I don't think he will ever do them.

It's true but give it some time. He didn't grow up on the bike, I don't see any reason why he can't improve dramatically in this regard. 22. Started riding competitively 4 years ago.

 

[Oldermanish]

It's true but give it some time. He didn't grow up on the bike, I don't see any reason why he can't improve dramatically in this regard. 22. Started riding competitively 4 years ago.

I hate to bring up a personal challenge that has been confirmed by several pros that avoid similar races: the connection from the chamois to the saddle doesn't suit everyone on all terrain. Hinault hated his one trip in PR. Not sure if that was it but 4 hrs seems to be a pivot point for bad pavement.
Not trying/trying to be funny about the obvious.

 

[Berniece]

What you saw this Vuelta was arguably GT-lite compared to the Giro and the Tour. If he wanted a double he'd be best doing what many here have suggested and tackle the Giro first. Depending on recovery the Vuelta would seem a reasonable second attempt.
We should wait until early next season to heap expectations on him. He's got a great handle on single day events to satisfy him as well.

Why was it a GT-lite? Due to the opposition? Because the power they were pedaling on the mountains wasn't lite at all. It was more in line with the Tour than the Giro.

 

[Bolder]

Based on what we've seen this past Vuelta I don't think it's too ambitious for his talent. I might be biased, because he's one of my favourite riders, but with proper preparation I think winning 2 GT's in 1 year is definitely possible for him.

I think the level of effort required to win a GT now makes the double especially hard, despite more advanced training and recovery techniques. Almost every rider who did the Giro or Tour before the Vuelta this year seemed to underperform a bit compared to my expectations, not to take anything away from Remco, who was on another level for the most part.

 

[KenFiamingo]

It's true but give it some time. He didn't grow up on the bike, I don't see any reason why he can't improve dramatically in this regard. 22. Started riding competitively 4 years ago.

The last thing he should do is focus on cobblestone races any time soon. Currently he is (mentally) able of doing all those sacrifices to be a GT rider. I can imagine approaching the age of 30 he might be sick of all of that. Then is the time to find another goal and that could be cobblestones.

 

[Big Doopie]

Why was it a GT-lite? Due to the opposition?

nah.

due to the wrong guy winning (according to the poster).

it’s a meme on these forums.

 

[Oldermanish]

Why was it a GT-lite? Due to the opposition? Because the power they were pedaling on the mountains wasn't lite at all. It was more in line with the Tour than the Giro.

Mostly due to the thin numbers of serious GC contenders. The depth at next year's Giro and Tour should be much deeper. Numbers....numbers.....don't mean anything if not tactically applied and strategically supported by team depth. DQS arguably punched above their weight in support of Remco. When they weren't there he handled the few threats very easily.
Seemed like most riders were fighting for the top ten spots. The fact that several teams were facing potential WT relegation this late in the season was another influence that took away from a GC competition.

 

[Oldermanish]

nah.

due to the wrong guy winning (according to the poster).

it’s a meme on these forums.

Did my post suggest the wrong guy won? The response was in context. Can Remco successfully compete and win two GTs next year based on his Vuelta performance? Can he?

 

[Andre]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way. El Giro was nothing to write home about. I think La Vuelta was the hardest fought this year and Remco faced the most strongest riders you could ask for. It was such a strong field that most of the breakaways were successful...including Arensman and Carapaz and such...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way. El Giro was nothing to write home about. I think La Vuelta was the hardest fought this year and Remco faced the most strongest riders you could ask for. It was such a strong field that most of the breakaways were successful...including Arensman and Carapaz and such...

Agreed about the Giro, but you can't compare to the Tour.

 

[Big Doopie]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way. El Giro was nothing to write home about. I think La Vuelta was the hardest fought this year and Remco faced the most strongest riders you could ask for. It was such a strong field that most of the breakaways were successful...including Arensman and Carapaz and such...

um...wow.

pog and vingo are presently the best at GTs so their competition was the most challenging.

on top of that at the TDF every single rider (including doms) is at their very top. i am pretty sure that is not the case at the vuelta.

many breakaways succeeded at the vuelta specifically because remco and QS wanted them to succeed in order to take away potential bonuses from Rog. As it turned out remco may have won his fair share as he was often the freshest at the top of climbs, but they did not know that.

i generally agree that the competition at the vuelta was stiffer than the giro.

your devotion to all things remco could use some tempering with reality. just sayin'. ;-)

 

[wheresmybrakes]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way. El Giro was nothing to write home about. I think La Vuelta was the hardest fought this year and Remco faced the most strongest riders you could ask for. It was such a strong field that most of the breakaways were successful...including Arensman and Carapaz and such...

I'm gonna assume you're extracting the urine. lmao

 

[topcat]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way. El Giro was nothing to write home about. I think La Vuelta was the hardest fought this year and Remco faced the most strongest riders you could ask for. It was such a strong field that most of the breakaways were successful...including Arensman and Carapaz and such...

Of course.

 

[OlavEH]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way

Tadej and Vingegaard was far better than Mas, Roglic, Ayuso and Rodriguez. These guys were probably not much better than Thomas in the Tour.

 

[Andre]

...ok, I exaggerated a little bit, but I don't like when people belittle the effort that Remco put in to win La Vuelta. Some posters (I guess they're called trolls) try to take away Remco's achievements by saying that the competition was weak or the parcours was easy. I will take "Big Doopie" advice and "temper the reality"...sometimes my emotions carry me away.

 

[Andy schleck]

The competition at La Vuelta was stronger than any of the Grand Tours. There was an insanely strong Mas and Roglic and Ayuso and Rodriguez etc. Le Tour had Vingo and Tadej basically, and Thomas was just fighting for third all the way. El Giro was nothing to write home about. I think La Vuelta was the hardest fought this year and Remco faced the most strongest riders you could ask for. It was such a strong field that most of the breakaways were successful...including Arensman and Carapaz and such...

Are you serious?

 

[Berniece]

Mostly due to the thin numbers of serious GC contenders. The depth at next year's Giro and Tour should be much deeper. Numbers....numbers.....don't mean anything if not tactically applied and strategically supported by team depth. DQS arguably punched above their weight in support of Remco. When they weren't there he handled the few threats very easily.
Seemed like most riders were fighting for the top ten spots. The fact that several teams were facing potential WT relegation this late in the season was another influence that took away from a GC competition.

I don't agree with that, numbers say it all. What could they apply tactically? First few mountain stages, Evenpoel immediately put such a high tempo that the others weren't able to do anything tactically.

 

[Oldermanish]

I don't agree with that, numbers say it all. What could they apply tactically? First few mountain stages, Evenpoel immediately put such a high tempo that the others weren't able to do anything tactically.

I meant the quality/quantity of GC contenders.....not Remco's wattage output. As for tactics; they seemed to wait for a moment of weakness from RE, and waited and waited and waited.