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

[Didinho]

Love that he's laughing in every interview, making jokes. Just saying what he thinks, not so much scripted like most of them.
Excited for this stage, curious how his legs feel in the end after the crash.
His W/kg went up, I would be confident aswell.

Edit: for the stage today I would guess he still doesn't want the pink jersey back untill after the TT, so he can wear his own skinsuit. Although he did wear the red jersey in the Vuelta TT he won.

 

[EliseeReclus]

Following the display of weakness by Remco's climbing domestics in stage 4, teams like INEOS and Jumbo may be motivated to ramp up the pace at the beginning of the climb to isolate him during today's uphill finish. However, if his domestics can handle the pace and take over, it would be a textbook scenario of "Jose de Cauwer's" strategy of emptying the competition's plate before starting on your own.

I'm not suggesting that this is what Quickstep have planned, but I have always wondered whether an ostensibly 'weaker' team with a GC contender might feign a greater weakness on earlier and simpler mountain stages (where the GC leader can broadly handle things themselves) than they actually have in some way in order to bait another team in 'working for them' and have their domestiques hold on to some energy for later on in a Grand Tour.

 

[steffr222]

I'm not suggesting that this is what Quickstep have planned, but I have always wondered whether an ostensibly 'weaker' team with a GC contender might feign a greater weakness on earlier and simpler mountain stages (where the GC leader can broadly handle things themselves) than they actually have in some way in order to bait another team in 'working for them' and have their domestiques hold on to some energy for later on in a Grand Tour.

That is what I was thinking, but isn’t it too much of a risk to even exclude van Wilder then in that case

 

[Didinho]

That is what I was thinking, but isn’t it too much of a risk to even exclude van Wilder then in that case

Van Wilder said he had a bad day and didn't eat enough. He'll be better today normally.

 

[Riek s]

Van Wilder said he had a bad day and didn't eat enough. He'll be better today normally.

So he basically said the team director was lying when he said the team to spare energy . Hopefully the team does better today!

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

So he basically said the team director was lying when he said the team to spare energy . Hopefully the team does better today!

Not necessarily. If he was on a bad day it made no sense to push it and make things worse. Hopefully that is his bad day out of the way.

 

[Didinho]

So he basically said the team director was lying when he said the team to spare energy . Hopefully the team does better today!

I think you always let Van Wilder stay with Remco on that final climb, they basically got the same bike in case of a mechanical. But maybe he said earlier he wasn't feeling good and they hoped for the best with this spare energy "tactic".

 

[Venge 82]

for the stage today I would guess he still doesn't want the pink jersey back untill after the TT, so he can wear his own skinsuit. Although he did wear the red jersey in the Vuelta TT he won.

The guys that are currently in the breakaway will not take over the pink jersey. Closest one is Simone Petilli at 7:49. Ok, the gap is now about 9 minutes, but this will be reduced by the end of the stage.
So, there are 2 possibilities left:
- Leknessund doesn't lose more than 28 seconds --> guess this will be a tough one (unless he anticipates and attacks prior to the big guns)
- Someone close to Remco in the classification takes pink --> preferably not 1 of the favourites, as this would mean Remco has a bad day

It will be very likely that Remco wears pink again this evening.

Anyway, weather conditions seem to be very harsh on top of Gran Sasso. Maybe a good thing that Remco is a bit heavier ;-) (but ok, it's not fat)

 

[Venge 82]

Some more about Simone Petilli. Honestly, he was unknown to me, but looking at his results it seems he's a good rider.
Won "Ronde de l'Isard" in 2015 in front of Laurens De Plus, Guillaume Martin, David Gaudu,... (4 days stage race).
Last year he ended 9th in Strade Bianche.

The breakaway now has 12 minutes. So, Petilli should be able to take pink.
No risk as he lost 3:03 on the ITT on Sunday. So, he'll lose more than 3 minutes again this Sunday.

 

[Valanga]

Edit: for the stage today I would guess he still doesn't want the pink jersey back untill after the TT, so he can wear his own skinsuit. Although he did wear the red jersey in the Vuelta TT he won.

Both SQS and the Giro are sponsored by Castelli, so I guess there won't be a difference.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He has aeroskin. He doesn't need a suit.

 

[Venge 82]

What have we learned? Nothing...

 

[DNP-Old]

Sneaky advantage with these closed races would be for Paret-Peintre to remain in 3rd after tomorrow. Would be an ideal aiming point for Remco on these long straights to Cesena, as opposed to the rivals who wouldn't by seeing anyone for a solid 45 minutes.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

What have we learned? Nothing...

Sneaky advantage with these closed races would be for Paret-Peintre to remain in 3rd after tomorrow. Would be an ideal aiming point for Remco on these long straights to Cesena, as opposed to the rivals who wouldn't by seeing anyone for a solid 45 minutes.

Ideal would be he takes pink tomorrow and gets to start behind Leknessund AND Paret-Peintre.

 

[frisenfruitig]

Regardless of who will be in front of him, Roglic & co are going to get demolished on Sunday. 35 flat ITT kms, none of the GC guys will lose less than a full minute.

 

[Riek s]

how did Remco look? it was a bunch so he should have had power to spare, but don't know with the crash? (haven't seen the last 2km, so don't know if something happened that lets us deduce something?)

 

[frisenfruitig]

Looked like he was following easily, it doesn't look like he is having issues related to the crashes.

 

[Didinho]

Ideal would be he takes pink tomorrow and gets to start behind Leknessund AND Paret-Peintre.

Or just Paret-Peintre and Almeida for some emotional damage to UAE.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Or just Paret-Peintre and Almeida for some emotional damage to UAE.

He's not going to take 4 minutes on Almeida.

 

[Didinho]

He's not going to take 4 minutes on Almeida.

Ow yeah forgot about the 2 minute gap. My bad.

 

[JosefK]

Remco has successfully intimidated the peloton. No one had the stones to test him out, today (stage 7). It could be a sign that other possible contenders are not feeling well after their own crashes in earlier stages.

 

[Riek s]

Paret-Peintre isn't fast enough in a TT to make a real difference or target for Remco. Remco rode on avg 5km/h faster in the first ITT. By the time he is in the slipstream he passed him.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So Remco still hasn't had a test against real men on Giro climbs. Will he finally pass it and prove himself in the mountains? Not sure, real men are needed for that.

 

[red_flanders]

Remco has successfully intimidated the peloton. No one had the stones to test him out, today (stage 7). It could be a sign that other possible contenders are not feeling well after their own crashes in earlier stages.

Also a loooong stage, six hours in the saddle and a loooong climb at the end, it’s draining to climb for that amount of time. I think guys are tired. Plus a headwind.

 

[Salvarani]

Also a loooong stage, six hours in the saddle and a loooong climb at the end, it’s draining to climb for that amount of time. I think guys are tired. Plus a headwind.

Exactly.

It might not have happened much today but some surely dug deeper than others, which could be felt/seen this weekend.