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

[Tonton]

Yes, he’s out of the Giro

OMG...

 

[houtdffan]

I didn't know that...aren't there rules so he has to quit then? Covid can kill.

its the team's choice. QS doesn't do the UAE plow through it approach

 

[jmdirt]

F! Sorry to hear this for RE, and his team!

 

[jmdirt]

People go to work with Covid now .. and even the flu.....jesus who died and made you head of healthcare

My issue is if you are not too sanctimonious to listen to is sure quit if you are ill ...its your body ..no one is saying no to that but alot of covif now is very mild yet you are obliged to quit cycling but not other sports where testing isnt routine .

What arshat goes to work with covid or the flu? Why would you spread your virus to others?!

EDIT:
Healthcare? From the sound of it your don't care about anyone's' health.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

This is Remco's thread or did I land in the wrong place? Or is everything Remco and the Sun revolves around him? For some here, it does.

Right now, if I'm Roglic, I'm still alive but I don't have the A JV team that can really hurt Evenepoel. Ineos is a different story: their chess game is working and Geraint looks like the New Geraint, or the old '18 Geraint. You choose...

Tao is lurking in the shadows and he's a threat, he's a former champ'.

I was expecting Evenepoel to be ahead of his foes by two minutes at this time. Winning by one second...meh....I'm not impressed. After two ITT, that's the gaps?...meh....

Are you purposely acting like a person often referred to by B.A. Baracus? meh
First of all, yes this is the Evenepoel topic, so no idea what that remark is supposed to mean, in this topic the sun revolves around him. Secondly he won the TT with covid. And finally he is now out of the Giro.

 

[jmdirt]

FFS Remco out of the Giro cos of Covid

I know I dont like the over the top fans but the Giro really needs him . And he still had a great chance to win imo

And you know what COVID now is milder than the flu
Yet if he had the flu he'd keep going

What? Look at death rates. Look at lasting effects +90 days. Look at % of myocarditis.

SC2 is not milder than influenza.

 

[jmdirt]

Routine check doesn't sound like they thought he had it before they tested him.

Does "routine test" just mean a regular test like everyone takes at home (as opposed to going to the doc)?

 

[Extinction]

So Remco has covid?

Welcome back from Mars.

 

[Extinction]

From the looks of him in post race imagery Remco finished the TT totally exhausted, much more than normal, as comparative footage of Thomas demonstrates. One looks like he was run over by a truck, the other fresh as a daisy in comparison. Time passes and he continues to feel lousy, starts breaking a fever and, with Ganna recently positiving out of the race, they decide to test him. And bingo, it's over. Remco and the team must of felt there was no way to recover and get well by Friday and for what the last week holds. Surely this is the case. It's to be expected. You can't win this Giro entering the crucial, final phase fighting a virus. It's insane to think otherwise.

The problem is that now his season is thrown into chaos. Would he be able to recover, get back to top shape and tackle the Tour? Unlikely. Would he find the motivation to prepare a second Vuelta properly? It remains to be seen. What misery a Giro can cause! Now he'll never know, had he stayed healthy and upright, how he would have handled the epic third week of this corsa rosa. Now winning by only 1 sec this TT is explained. History could have been in the making. Instead who knows now if he'll even ever be back at the Giro?

 

[houtdffan]

From the looks of him in post race imagery Remco finished the TT totally exhausted, much more than normal, as comparative footage of Thomas demonstrates. One looks like he was run over by a truck, the other fresh as a daisy in comparison. Time passes and he continues to feel lousy, starts breaking a fever and, with Ganna recently positiving out of the race, they decide to test him. And bingo, it's over. Remco and the team must of felt there was no way to recover and get well by Friday and for what the last week holds. Surely this is the case. It's to be expected. You can't win this Giro entering the crucial, final phase fighting a virus. It's insane to think otherwise.

The problem is that now his season is thrown into chaos. Would he be able to recover, get back to top shape and tackle the Tour? Unlikely. Would he find the motivation to prepare a second Vuelta properly? It remains to be seen. What misery a Giro can cause! Now he'll never know, had he stayed healthy and upright, how he would have handled the epic third week of this corsa rosa. Now winning by only 1 sec this TT is explained. History could have been in the making. Instead who knows now if he'll even ever be back?

why wouldn't he be able to be in shape for the tour? e see this all the time at the Vuelta on even less rest between the tours

 

[dazaau]

He won a TT with Covid

I didn't know that...aren't there rules so he has to quit then? Covid can kill.

So Remco has covid?

Yes, he’s out of the Giro

OMG...

I enjoyed this. I would have checked the cycling news home page after the first response, but it was great to see it unfold slowly here.

Such a shame we miss out on another epic battle.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I think context here is everything, in that winning alone was not a sign of victory. He had hoped to come out with 2+ minutes on his main GC rivals, to only find himself less than 1 minute ahead. And considering the time gained in the opening TT, with then getting dropped on a cat 4 climb yesterday, it demonstrates he has clearly experienced a drop in form, which you would not have expected only 9 stages in, except for the crashes (and/or illness?). He looked absolutely wrecked in the photo Lequack posted. I'm not saying Thomas looked fresh as a daisy after his effort, but compared to Evenepoel yes. The issue, of course, is that Remco now can't just defend in the mountains alla Indurain, but has to be aggressive; only he seems spent. And the next few stages look to be pretty miserable weather wise, which isn't helpful to recovery. I'll withhold a final verdict till after his ride on Crans Montagna. On the surface of things, however, he will need to get out of what appears to be a problematical slump if he has any real chance of winning this Giro. To further complicate matters for the Belgian, moreover, is that his team doesn't seem at a high enough level to support him on the big climbs. This is just an honest assessment of how things realistically look going into the first rest day.

Again, it is a victory in that those time gains were expected not only by most but himself and the team and despite everything going completely wrong physically, mentally, and potentially emotionally he showed he could still get the win and gain time. Evenepoel didn’t crumble in the moment from all of the pressure. We’ve seen champions and riders face adversity and crumble making the whole thing worse whether in a TT, climb, or stage, yet Evenepoel kept it together. Heck, there’s members on here who call cyclists weak when they crumble at adversity and that’s their issues. Now he did withdraw, but in the future he knows when things aren’t going well at the end of a race, he can still keep it together for potential success.

He was 5 seconds off the top vs one of the worlds top 5 minute W/kg climber, he cannot be terrible that's for sure.

Yes, and he looked terrible/miserable at the start and end of it. I can be terrible and still pull out a win, and I’m sure the crashes and Covid eat at your base power. I know when I had Covid, I had enough energy to be out of bed for 3-4 hours before becoming fatigued.




Overall it stinks he had to withdraw from his main objective but that’s cycling unfortunately and his main rival would know all about it. It would be nice seeing him at the Tour, but like Pog hopefully he will be able to recover. Maybe we will have a Roglic vs Pog vs Evenepoel at the Vuelta?

 

[nightowl]

why wouldn't he be able to be in shape for the tour? e see this all the time at the Vuelta on even less rest between the tours

Well right now he’s sick, and if it takes too long for him to recover he won’t be able to get enough prep in for the tour. Even if he does recover quickly, it’s not an ideal preparation and the level at the tour is a significant step up from the vuelta so it’ll be more difficult to attain the shape required compared to the usual tour-to-vuelta riders. I think it is possible for him to do, but it’ll be difficult and is certainly not a sure thing

 

[houtdffan]

Well right now he’s sick, and if it takes too long for him to recover he won’t be able to get enough prep in for the tour. Even if he does recover quickly, it’s not an ideal preparation and the level at the tour is a significant step up from the vuelta so it’ll be more difficult to attain the shape required compared to the usual tour-to-vuelta riders. I think it is possible for him to do, but it’ll be difficult and is certainly not a sure thing

take a few days to recover and slowly get back into things. Do the Dauphine then the tour. The Dauphine should be enough to get him back up to speed

Pog is going to have an even harder time getting to the TDF in good form

 

[nightowl]

take a few days to recover and slowly get back into things. Do the Dauphine then the tour. The Dauphine should be enough to get him back up to speed

Pog is going to have an even harder time getting to the TDF in good form

In a perfect scenario this could certainly work for him, but all it would take is the illness to linger and set him back too far, or for his body to not respond well to back-to-back GT prep training camps to ruin the plan. Then there’s the whole question of would Quickstep even take him. I hope he is able to re-peak for the tour though - would love to see him go up against Vingo and (hopefully) Pog

 

[houtdffan]

In a perfect scenario this could certainly work for him, but all it would take is the illness to linger and set him back too far, or for his body to not respond well to back-to-back GT prep training camps to ruin the plan. Then there’s the whole question of would Quickstep even take him. I hope he is able to re-peak for the tour though - would love to see him go up against Vingo and (hopefully) Pog

Soudol wanted him in the tour this year, in the rainbow jersey. If he is able to go, the sponsors may demand he goes

 

[Boehmand]

Don't think so. But I did see an interview he did after the TT, he sounded like he had a sore throat. Obviously gone & done a test and I presume he's started to feel worse.

Agreed.

I just don't get why they pull him 5 hours later, instead of seing how he is after 2 nights sleep and plenty of treatment aand wellness, and then deciding to pull him if he is still too sick.

 

[Boehmand]

Time to rest and recover.
Then come back and DESTROY san sebastian, veulta, worlds, lombardia
Autumn version of spring Tadej

Worlds is 2 weeks after the Tour.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Very sad news and not at all surprising after seeing the photo of him at the finish. Like others, I’m surprised he didn’t wait until Tuesday to withdraw, but he must have felt so badly that they had to call it. Symptoms can set in really quickly and it doesn’t necessarily mean he had them for a while. He might have only miledly been impacted in the ITT even. Actually, he clearly was only mildly impacted as if he had Covid badly during that ITT he would have shipped minutes, not won.

Anecdotally, I set a huge marathon PR with Covid. Felt great, woke up the next morning and could barely move. Immediately tested positive. But again completely smashed it the day before. I was wrecked for a couple of weeks.

I really hope he rides the Tour this year. The kid is ready to go toe to toe with the big 4 in a primary target GT, and it’d be a shame to only race someone in their secondary.

Heal up, Remco, and great riding when you were able!

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

@HelloDolly surprised you haven’t mentioned the MJ flu game.

Top NBA Finals moments: Michael Jordan's flu game in 1997 Finals

In Game 5 of the 1997 Finals, a flu-stricken Michael Jordan willed the Bulls to a win against the Jazz.

www.nba.com

 

[Boehmand]

take a few days to recover and slowly get back into things. Do the Dauphine then the tour. The Dauphine should be enough to get him back up to speed

Pog is going to have an even harder time getting to the TDF in good form

In a perfect scenario this could certainly work for him, but all it would take is the illness to linger and set him back too far, or for his body to not respond well to back-to-back GT prep training camps to ruin the plan. Then there’s the whole question of would Quickstep even take him. I hope he is able to re-peak for the tour though - would love to see him go up against Vingo and (hopefully) Pog

Soudol wanted him in the tour this year, in the rainbow jersey. If he is able to go, the sponsors may demand he goes

I don't see Evenepoel riding GC at the Tour, even if he is healthy tomorrow.

With Worlds being 2 weeks after the Tour, it is a stretch to think you can both do GC at the Tour, and then be a contender in Glasgow, so he can probably not do both - and Worlds is a route he can win on.

Also the chances of it still being a little early for him to be a Tour contender, when he has only completed 1 GT, are quite high, so SQ may not want to risk him getting beat up too badly by Pogacar and Vingegaard, and would prefer giving him another year of preparation before taking on the big boys.

Thus I think it more likely, that he enters the Tour as a stage hunter, drops time early, and then goes for a few select stages, while riding the rest of the Tour in preparation for Worlds.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

I don't see Evenepoel riding GC at the Tour, even if he is healthy tomorrow.

With Worlds being 2 weeks after the Tour, it is a stretch to think you can both do GC at the Tour, and then be a contender in Glasgow, so he can probably not do both - and Worlds is a route he can win on.

Also the chances of it still being a little early for him to be a Tour contender, when he has only completed 1 GT, are quite high, so SQ may not want to risk him getting beat up too badly by Pogacar and Vingegaard, and would prefer giving him another year of preparation before taking on the big boys.

Thus I think it more likely, that he enters the Tour as a stage hunter, drops time early, and then goes for a few select stages, while riding the rest of the Tour in preparation for Worlds.

I think it should depend on how badly Covid hits him. If he keeps a strong base and can resharpen for the Tour, he should do that. Tour > WC

 

[DNP-Old]

Neither of those instances are problems, as evidently shown in Tokyo. What's much more inconvenient is his team. You cannot go into a grand tour with Vansevenant or Bagioli as your best source of uphill help. If he is able to and wants to go for a Tour GC bid, Soudal would have to pull out half the team that's here.

 

[Scarponi]

What arshat goes to work with covid or the flu? Why would you spread your virus to others?!

EDIT:
Healthcare? From the sound of it your don't care about anyone's' health.

Boomers will go to work with any cold , flu, Covid or gastro virus because of their old school can’t miss a day at work mantra. My dad the dud went back to work two days after a pace maker was attached. I understand they were raised in a different time but that’s why it spreads

 

[houtdffan]

It's almost as if QS had the plan of if anything goes the slightest wrong, Remco pulls out of the giro.

This was not the A team at then giro. The A team was the Vuelta team last year.