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

[Extinction]

He is either weakened from the crashes or else the Giro is a lost cause with the third week being what it is. I can only speculate the crashes took away his brilliance, because you don't dominate the opening TT like that to be dropped on such a climb.

 

[Lorzenz08]

And after one baby climb you concluded that? He is still recovering after two crashes in the same day and I am sure he will be up there in 3rd week. Even tomorrow in TT he will put at least one and a half minute to other GC guys (Almeida, G, Roglic, Vine...).

He can take 1:30min to Roglic tomorrow. Roglic will put him 2 minutes in each of the next big mountain stages.

 

[steffr222]

Not a hood sign for the 3rd week tbh.
This climb should have been a good one for him, comparable to Klasikoa and LBL ones..
3rd week will be hard for him. I hope he’s able to recover a bit after the days after ITT tomorrow

 

[Extinction]

He can take 1:30min to Roglic tomorrow. Roglic will put him 2 minutes in each of the next big mountain stages.

Don't get ahead of yourself, as it could be the effects of the crashes coupled with a sans jour, which every rider has. On the other hand, he should have kept up today.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

He will be killed by Roglic in the mountains. He will never compete with Pog or Fishman

No no, if he ever gets dropped on a climb, he will have no problem getting time back in the flat after it. We've been told that repeatedly and convincingly here, so don't worry about the mountains, he will get it all back in the flat. Must be fake news that he lost time today, impossible with a few mostly flat km at the very end. Could never happened.

Weird though, didn't expect that, if anything would think on a stage like this it's Roglic+Remco that drop the rest, not Roglic joined by Ineos who drop Remco. Anyway, it's 14", completely irrelevant over the whole Giro. Bad day, whatever, we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

 

[xREv]

Congrats Koen Pelgrim ! 63 kg is madness for his size

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Probably feeling the crash a little bit. I could understand Rog gapping him a bit but hard to believe he’d be gapped by TGH and G in normal times. Or he peaked too early / went to ITT specific. Or just a bad day.

 

[johnymax]

He will catch Rogla in the ITT tomorrow and the Giro will be over again...till stage 13.

 

[Oldermanish]

He is either weakened from the crashes or else the Giro is a lost cause with the third week being what it is. I can only speculate the crashes took away his brilliance, because you don't dominate the opening TT like that to be dropped on such a climb.

Give the kid a break...he'll TT well tomorrow and could get better throughout the week. Week 3 is what it is; climber time. He'll need to be ready for what comes.

 

[Riek s]

Meh. We all expected him to be affected by the crash, we just didn't know how much. Everyone here also stated it was good nothing happened yesterday.

The doctor initial assumption that he would need 6-7 days may work out. which is after the rest day.

Maybe on thing that was positive is that he kept riding and keeping Roglic in shot. I think that is how he should ride against Roglic to avoid the attack/attack style. However that only works if you don't crack yourself like today.

Hard to predict how it will affect the rest of his Giro. A lot will depend on how he manages tomorrow. But it looks like he won't have a 2min headstart after sunday... I'm assuming tomorrow will also not be brilliant, needs a lot of power in a very hard hip position.
So we should know on stage 13? if he recovered or if he really is on a downward spiral already.

 

[Peyroteo94]

And after one baby climb you concluded that? He is still recovering after two crashes in the same day and I am sure he will be up there in 3rd week. Even tomorrow in TT he will put at least one and a half minute to other GC guys (Almeida, G, Roglic, Vine...).

Don't get me wrong, I love him but he can't compete with Pog or Vingegaard, not these beasts we saw in 2022 Tour.

 

[Kwaremonster]

Too early to tell what this means. But definitely his rivals will get confidence from this..

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I can’t imagine he will be able to perform near his best level in the TT tomorrow. Luckily for him there are some easy days after that.

 

[Rackham]

Really don't know what to think. Just a few weeks ago he completely dominated on exactly this kind of climb in LBL and today he gets dropped by TGH and Thomas. Did he peak too early? Is he injured? Whatever it is I am a lot less confident in him winning this Giro now.

It's the 8th stage of a Grand Tour.

It's not the same as a one day race. That's notwithstanding crashes & other issues of course but racing day after day for over a week is much, much different versus a one day monument.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It's the 8th stage of a Grand Tour.

It's not the same as a one day race. That's notwithstanding crashes & other issues of course but racing day after day for over a week is much, much different versus a one day monument.

Not only that, there was a proper 8-km climb shortly before, and a finish above 2000 m the day before. Maybe also his crash still has some effect.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

It's the 8th stage of a Grand Tour.

It's not the same as a one day race. That's notwithstanding crashes & other issues of course but racing day after day for over a week is much, much different versus a one day monument.

What? Now you tell me?!

 

[Extinction]

Give the kid a break...he'll TT well tomorrow and could get better throughout the week. Week 3 is what it is; climber time. He'll need to be ready for what comes.

I am giving him a break, in wondering if he's hurt or on a sans jour, otherwise it doesn't bode well.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I am giving him a break, in wondering if he's hurt or on a sans jour, otherwise it doesn't bode well.

It doesn't bode well.

 

[peterfin]

If it was the crash then not attacking him yesterday could have been a big mistake. He should be recovered when the next mountain arrives.

 

[saunaking]

I dont know what to make of his performances.
Dies at Catalunya on Lo Port in final meters losing to Roglic, then looked the strongest the next couple stages

Dropped in Sierra Nevada at vuelta, then wins mtn top finish a few days later (also after crashing days before i think)

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

In the Vuelta Remco had two subpar performances 2-3 days after his crash, then he looked the strongest again after some easier days. Fingers crossed it’s the same here, but then we should expect him to underperform slightly tomorrow.

If he performs absolutely brilliant tomorrow I think that’s worrying for his climbing legs…

 

[Krzysztof_O]

In the Vuelta Remco had two supper performances 2-3 days after his crash, then he looked the strongest again after some easier days. Fingers crossed it’s the same here, but then we should expect him to underperform slightly tomorrow.

If he performs absolutely brilliant tomorrow I think that’s worrying for his climbing legs…

My thoughts as well. His crash could still be affecting him but an outstanding TT tomorrow would maybe exclude this explanation.

 

[peterfin]

I dont know what to make of his performances.
Dies at Catalunya on Lo Port in final meters losing to Roglic, then looked the strongest the next couple stages

Dropped in Sierra Nevada at vuelta, then wins mtn top finish a few days later (also after crashing days before i think)

My take: In the Vuelta his performance dip could be explained because of the crash. The Catalunya final was due to going above his limit for too long (basically not timing his attack well). We might have seen a similar issue here: going anaerobic for too long in an adrenaline rush to get back to Roglic instead of pacing himself. As a consequence he faces a moment of recovery just prior to the top and loses more time (otherwise he might have followed G and hart). While Remco is more explosive now then in the past, it's not his biggest strength. Trusting his powet meter should be his first concern and not the adrenaline rush that brings him in his red zone for too long.

 

[ppanther92]

Lets see how he does tomorrow. If its the two crashes, then tomorrow surely won't be that great either. If not, then his climbing doesn't look what it need to be. I am anyway still skeptical if GT climbing is what Evenepoel really will excel in. But today it was not a high altitude alps climb, rather a LBL type hill, where he not too long ago was by far the strongest. That makes the case a bit more curious - (i) crashes?, (ii) bad day?, (iii) form timing?, (iv) recovery already (question that on day 8)?

In any case, we will see.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

In the Vuelta Remco had two subpar performances 2-3 days after his crash, then he looked the strongest again after some easier days. Fingers crossed it’s the same here, but then we should expect him to underperform slightly tomorrow.

If he performs absolutely brilliant tomorrow I think that’s worrying for his climbing legs…

I think it is very likely that he will perform exceptionally well tomorrow regardless because it so naturally suits his strengths, unless he is extremely hurt or really messed up his prep, both of which seem highly unlikely.

IMO it will be way more worrisome if he doesn’t perform well because his main advantage will have been nullified, and I do not think he is the favorite in the high mountains on paper.