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

[Gargamel35]

Another aspect is his age. He's so young, there is no need to force him thorough illness or heavy injury. He's got plenty of time to do it again.
I would understand Roglič or G. Thomas would try to push longer since they don't have many years of time in front.

 

[Mayomaniac]

It's hard to understand the decision because if he has symptoms, these ones are sure very light or win the ITT had been impossible.

Now there's a rest day: maybe tomorrow these very light symptoms were already gone....so why not to wait ?

Why decide so fast to retire?

I guess it got bad after the ITT, more than just a cold. I'm talking about chills, body aches and potentially even fever.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

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.

Government policy here (UK) is go to work unless you don't feel well enough to do so.

 

[Faserr]

Government policy here (UK) is go to work unless you don't feel well enough to do so.

Sounds like a normal monday.

 

[Salvarani]

He apparently told his father straight after the TT: "Dad, I don't feel well". Looking at the images, this was very obvious. Compare with how he looked like after the opening TT, where he smashed everyone and looked like he had just come back from a picnic. Day and night.

It would be very strange if he would feel the same after a short TT on stage 1, compared to stage 9 after a long first week. Sick or not.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I always dispised COVID
but now it's really the pits.
REMCO and all of us merited more

In fairness, I think a death toll of somewhere between 7million and 30 million is a stronger reason despise it than an interruption in a cycling career or reduced competition in one race.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

It's hard to understand the decision because if he has symptoms, these ones are sure very light or win the ITT had been impossible.

Now there's a rest day: maybe tomorrow these very light symptoms were already gone....so why not to wait ?

Why decide so fast to retire?

There is a nagging part of me that sees all this as a ruse to avoid the rest day press conferences, and he will be there, resplendent in pink, on Tuesday morning.

Almost certainly not the case, but it is entertaining to indulge oneself on a little conspiracy theory every now and then...

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

What i don't understand with all this is if they knew he's sick for couple days or at least yesterday, why did he still kiss his girlfriend and never used a mask to protect others around him? I would think he felt something is happening, but you refuse to admit to yourself, trying to cope with it. Then a random Covid test shows what it is.

He had said he wanted to give his mum a Mothers' Day present: I hope it wasn't a dose of Covid.

 

[Gargamel35]

He had said he wanted to give his mum a Mothers' Day present: I hope it wasn't a dose of Covid.

Knowing many mothers, the biggest gift you can give them is your time and to stay healthy. Winning a TT stage is a the bottom of their wishes.

 

[Red Rick]

Guess his condition must have worsened significantly. Like the exhaustion from the TT not going away 5 hours later. That's when they test him, decided do pull him from the race respectively since it became apparent not doing so would harm his health!

Yeah it sounds like sickness was only beginning. No way he could have have competed in the Crans Montana stage

 

[RedheadDane]

Guess his condition must have worsened significantly. Like the exhaustion from the TT not going away 5 hours later. That's when they test him, decided do pull him from the race respectively since it became apparent not doing so would harm his health!

Sort of what I've been thinking too.
I suppose whatever symptoms he might have had earlier could be managed. Partly because he didn't have the jersey, so he could go straight to the hotel after each stage. Partly because stage 7 was ridden at a not-exactly-recording-breaking pace.
However, the effort to win the ITT, well... I'm not a doctor, but I don't think that's the recommended method to recover from any kind of illness.

 

[Volderke]

I honestly don't understand any of those comments that question his decision to pull out.

Remco felt suboptimal, he pushed hard in the TT and besides some problems with setting the pacing strategy (because of the wind becoming more of a factor), he obviously couldn't push the numbers expected.
So in the evening, the covid test turned out a positive Whether or not that test was done because of the fact he didn't feel well, or because they just planned to do a test after week 1, doesn't matter much.
He felt suboptimal, returned a covid positive test, and even if he felt reasonably well (enough) to continue, you just don't know how it will evolve, and more importantly, even when you don't feel anything, doing the Giro = an incredible assault on the system and this shouldn't be done while fighting a virus. You can easily destroy your resistance against a virus by exhausting your system, and this can in the long run make you much, much worse.

In any way, Remco pulling out doesn't make this Giro less interesting (for me). I still enjoy the battle, the landscapes, the racing,... Maybe the race will be more open now?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

2 Giro's, 2 DNF's. Maybe he should just stay away from this race.

 

[Bolder]

I think he was not good for a few days, but i'm assuming most of his symptoms were probably consistent or could be attributed to his crashes as well. (Soar/ increase heart rate /muscle pain / ..).

So either he got additional symptoms and therefor tested, or they tested him out of a fluke and discovered that besides the crashes there is also something else raging in his body.

Given how many riders have contracted covid in the past few weeks, I'm sure many teams were testing daily. The antibody home kits are easy peasy and cheap.

 

[Berniece]

2 Giro's, 2 DNF's. Maybe he should just stay away from this race.

He'll definitely come back to try and win it, but probably not in 2024.

 

[Offline]

2 Giro's, 2 DNF's. Maybe he should just stay away from this race.

As a rider I think the Tour fits him better as well.

 

[Pantani_lives]

This is a terrible blow. Until Friday he looked the strongest. He'll need to recover from this. Health comes first. Hopefully he'll come back soon and set new goals.

 

[Mayomaniac]

2 Giro's, 2 DNF's. Maybe he should just stay away from this race.

Too soon to make "Remco in Spain & Belgium vs Remco in Italy" memes?

Honesty, it's gonna be interesting to see if Lefevre ends up dragging him to the Tour, after all he's his big cash cow and the sponsors will love it. With Ala and Jakobsen both being a bit of a question make that could happen.

 

[Berflamand]

Too soon to make "Remco in Spain & Belgium vs Remco in Italy" memes?

Honesty, it's gonna be interesting to see if Lefevre ends up dragging him to the Tour, after all he's his big cash cow and the sponsors will love it. With Ala and Jakobsen both being a bit of a question make that could happen.

His mom did say that a couple of days ago he told her that if this Giro wouldn't turn out to be a good experience, he'd never race in Italy again.

He'll probably not live up to that statement (after all, Lombardia is still a big target this season) but I can certainly see him avoid the Giro for the next couple of years.

 

[Berflamand]

As I already said before the season, I'd love to see him go to the Tour in a free/domestique role without GC intentions:

• Stagehunting, possibly even yellow jersey hunting in the Basque country;
• Domestique in the sprint train for Jakobsen/Merlier;
• Preparing for the WC, maybe even pulling out of the Tour a little earlier.

I think it would be good if he already gained some experience in the Tour before launching a full GC bid and this year seems perfect after this disastrous exit in the Giro.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Too soon to make "Remco in Spain & Belgium vs Remco in Italy" memes?

Honesty, it's gonna be interesting to see if Lefevre ends up dragging him to the Tour, after all he's his big cash cow and the sponsors will love it. With Ala and Jakobsen both being a bit of a question make that could happen.

Who knows? Giro wasn't that long for him. When he fully recovers they may consider the Tour indeed (or maybe Vuelta?). Imagine Vinge, Pog and Remco at the Tour! OTOH it may turn out that only one of them will be there

 

[Red Rick]

Still weird to say he was asymptomatic while also saying his performance was affected and he was feeling like shot after the TT.

 

[wickedw]

As I already said before the season, I'd love to see him go to the Tour in a free/domestique role without GC intentions:

• Stagehunting, possibly even yellow jersey hunting in the Basque country;
• Domestique in the sprint train for Jakobsen/Merlier;
• Preparing for the WC, maybe even pulling out of the Tour a little earlier.

I think it would be good if he already gained some experience in the Tour before launching a full GC bid and this year seems perfect after this disastrous exit in the Giro.

Imagine wasting a talent like Remco in a sprint train. It's exactly something SQS would do, and has done sadly. I'd say dump the sprinters and either go for a gc top 5 or just stage wins. Or just target the vuelta.

 

[Salvarani]

Still weird to say he was asymptomatic while also saying his performance was affected and he was feeling like shot after the TT.

It is a bit puzzling.

Either way, his Giro is over.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Who knows? Giro wasn't that long for him. When he fully recovers they may consider the Tour indeed (or maybe Vuelta?). Imagine Vinge, Pog and Remco at the Tour! OTOH it may turn out that only one of them will be there

I mean, this is probably the one time he'll get to ride the Tour as a learning experience/without the weight of a nation on his shoulders (I'd still expect the team or his entourage to make some stupid statements before the race). What would be the other options to get ready for the WC, if he recovers soon? TdS and NC maybe.