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

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Do people actually think Remco isn't calling the shots regarding his race schedule?
Guys like Remco, Tadej, MVDP go to the races they want. No team manager is
going to say no to these guys, including the great PL.

I'm sure Pat gives his opinion, but Remco will have final say
 
As much as I hate it, I think Remco to Ineos is a no-brainer. This is Remco's 5th year at quickstep and winning gt's has been the goal ever since 2020, where he was supposed to do the Giro before his injury. And still, even now when he has already won a gt, they have a team completely inadequate for a gc rider. Like, who is QS 2nd best climber? Jan Hirt? Remco is supposed to go to the Tour fighting against Vingegaard and Pogacar with their super teams and relying on his last man Jan *** Hirt? A talent like him would be completely stupid to stay at a team giving him this kind of support.

Meanwhile Ineos has the capabilities to build a team that could compete with UAE and JV but they are lacking a gc leader who can compete with Pogacar and Vingegaard. You really just have to put two and two together.
 
Having a sensible discussion in here is pointless. You are free to think and rate it however you want. Have a good day. :)
He makes a valid point. Make it a sensible discussion. What are your criteria? Mas being 2nd for the third time but this time was different? Even when he said he had his best performance values and confirmed this by challenging Pogacar during Lombardia? Or is it the weak field with in your view 2nd tier riders like Ayuso, Lopez and Almeida making the top 5 that will be exposed as nobodies later on? Or do we fail to understand you and you basically want to say that the 2022 Vuelta will be rated as bad versus Remco's future GT's because Remco was not at his best due to his crash?
 
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They pulled him out of the Giro, fair enough, even if I still don't understand why they couldn't wait until Tuesday morning. But they won't let him ride the Tour or the Vuelta because he hasn't won the former and has won the latter or whatever the reason was. It turns out to be a ludicrous season for one of the best GC riders of the current era. Now, he will apparently do Tour of Belgium instead of Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse to add insult to injury.

He shouldn't ride TdF (I also doubt he wants to). I haven't heard about the restriction re VaE, this is indeed crazy. Also, if there's any change in his schedule, why assume he didn't have a say in it?
 
As much as I hate it, I think Remco to Ineos is a no-brainer. This is Remco's 5th year at quickstep and winning gt's has been the goal ever since 2020, where he was supposed to do the Giro before his injury. And still, even now when he has already won a gt, they have a team completely inadequate for a gc rider. Like, who is QS 2nd best climber? Jan Hirt? Remco is supposed to go to the Tour fighting against Vingegaard and Pogacar with their super teams and relying on his last man Jan *** Hirt? A talent like him would be completely stupid to stay at a team giving him this kind of support.

Meanwhile Ineos has the capabilities to build a team that could compete with UAE and JV but they are lacking a gc leader who can compete with Pogacar and Vingegaard. You really just have to put two and two together.
Lefevere isnt gonna sell his golden goose
 
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As much as I hate it, I think Remco to Ineos is a no-brainer. This is Remco's 5th year at quickstep and winning gt's has been the goal ever since 2020, where he was supposed to do the Giro before his injury. And still, even now when he has already won a gt, they have a team completely inadequate for a gc rider. Like, who is QS 2nd best climber? Jan Hirt? Remco is supposed to go to the Tour fighting against Vingegaard and Pogacar with their super teams and relying on his last man Jan *** Hirt? A talent like him would be completely stupid to stay at a team giving him this kind of support.

Meanwhile Ineos has the capabilities to build a team that could compete with UAE and JV but they are lacking a gc leader who can compete with Pogacar and Vingegaard. You really just have to put two and two together.

I'd say Masnada and Hirt are comparable. Also, who did Pogacar have when he won his 2 TdFs? The luxury of Kuss is a bonus, of course, but not crucial. Finally, a shift to full GC takes a while to finetune. Add a rider or two, and they are set.

Remco is also emotionally invested in QS (a Belgian team, they stood behind him during his recovery, etc). And he is the 2nd best paid rider in the world.

Nothing will happen. Nothing should happen. Case closed.
 
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My subjective opinion is that apart from the Giro 2021 misstep, SQS has used him nearly perfectly. He's not over raced, over trained, thrown into situations where he won't succeed (although I still think he should have done the Tour this year over the Giro...).
Never thrown in situations where he won't succeed? You mean like putting him vs Pogacar and Vingegaard in Tirreno while weighing 67kg?

They have screwed the pooch on numerous occasions. They never took his lack of experience seriously, which inevitably led to him crashing hard sooner or later combined with his eagerness to perform. They did not supervise his injury close enough, letting a young, eager and inexperienced rider to set the pace of his own recovery, which led to his injury getting worse, his recovery taking longer and an entire year being wasted. They constantly set him up with a tactical nitwit. The plan in LBL had not changed after Pogacar crashed out. So the plan all along had been to attack on La Redoute and solo it home. Would have loved to see that happening with Pogacar there. I could go into a race per race screw up if you'd like too.
 
Remco is also emotionally invested in QS (a Belgian team, they stood behind him during his recovery, etc). And he is the 2nd best paid rider in the world.

Emotionally invested, maybe. I would say it's misplaced. They stood by FJ, yet he is likely out of the door next season. He is definitely not the 2nd best paid rider in the world though. Not even close. He signed a deal way too early for way too long. He is likely around Alaphilippe in salary, with perhaps some bonus structures. It's not bad but it's not anywhere near his market value. Ineos would likely pay him double of what he earns now. They are also able to provide a team that is far superior to what SQS has to offer, or is willing to offer.

If one of the climbing doms falls away for sqs, they have nothing to offer. Jumbo can replace almost an entire team. If Remco is to stay at quick step they need to sign several domestiques this year. I don't think lefevere is willing to open up his wallet for it. He's more likely to cash in and then make a public spectacle about how he has been betrayed or something.
 
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I'd say Masnada and Hirt are comparable. Also, who did Pogacar have when he won his 2 TdFs? The luxury of Kuss is a bonus, of course, but not crucial. Finally, a shift to full GC takes a while to finetune. Add a rider or two, and they are set.

Remco is also emotionally invested in QS (a Belgian team, they stood behind him during his recovery, etc). And he is the 2nd best paid rider in the world.

Nothing will happen. Nothing should happen. Case closed.
Pogacar's team support at UAE being questionable isn't really the point though. You can't possibly argue they haven't at the very least spent a bunch of money on increasing the climbing depth of the squad.

Remco currently has the worst team support of any top tier GT contender since Dumoulin at Sunweb. Teams like Jayco/BikeExchange/Greenedge have managed to cobble together better support on smaller budgets than Quickstep, it's ultimately a matter of priorities. Seriously contending at the Tour would probably take a lot more than adding a rider or two to this team, that's for sure.
 
Remco currently has the worst team support of any top tier GT contender since Dumoulin at Sunweb. Teams like Jayco/BikeExchange/Greenedge have managed to cobble together better support on smaller budgets than Quickstep, it's ultimately a matter of priorities. Seriously contending at the Tour would probably take a lot more than adding a rider or two to this team, that's for sure.
Actually their A-team isn't that bad, you saw at LBL and also at Catalunya that they could control the race quite dominantly. Certainly stronger than the team with which Dumoulin won the Giro. From the last month we can't draw any conclusions. The only thing you could say is that the strongest domestique for Evenepoel, Van Wilder, would have been a bit weaker than those for Roglic and Thomas/Hart.
 
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Actually their A-team isn't that bad, you saw at LBL and also at Catalunya that they could control the race quite dominantly. Certainly stronger than the team with which Dumoulin won the Giro. From the last month we can't draw any conclusions. The only thing you could say is that the strongest domestique for Evenepoel, Van Wilder, would have been a bit weaker than those for Roglic and Thomas/Hart.
LBL and Catalunya aren't GTs, and Jumbo and Ineos can field several stronger support lineups than Quickstep's A team.
 
Actually their A-team isn't that bad, you saw at LBL and also at Catalunya that they could control the race quite dominantly. Certainly stronger than the team with which Dumoulin won the Giro. From the last month we can't draw any conclusions. The only thing you could say is that the strongest domestique for Evenepoel, Van Wilder, would have been a bit weaker than those for Roglic and Thomas/Hart.
Jumbo's C-team + Kuss was better than SQS.

Ineos had 3 guys much better than Van Wilder, and that's after their strongest leader crashed out.
 
Lol. Who's saying that?
Doesnt matter.

QS are a bit over the place with their squad atm.

Until they decide on what the future is strategy-wise they will be throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

But for the "GC-squad" they probably need at least three new riders, imo. One being a very good domestic. Then they probably need to get rid of a couple of riders, who are not good enough or past it.
 
My subjective opinion is that apart from the Giro 2021 misstep, SQS has used him nearly perfectly. He's not over raced, over trained, thrown into situations where he won't succeed (although I still think he should have done the Tour this year over the Giro...). The Lombardia crash could have turned into a Dumoulin/Froome/Pinot debacle but he recovered fully.

Ineos on paper would be a great team for Remco -- can you imagine him huddling behind Ganna for 30 km toward the end of a medium mountain/transitional stage? He'd be pushing 75 watts...and Ineo's climbers (De Plus and Arensman) outperformed my expectations at the Giro.

From Ineos's side, they'd love to have a WC on the roster, and some of their GC hopefuls like Sivakov or Dani Martinez havn'et yet panned out (or are hurt). They'll likely lose C.Rod, too.

As for current riders, they know it's a business.
That's why it may make sense to a cash-driven Patrick to hold up Ineos and hold Remco out of any competition that's significant until he knows what he could be paid. Trying to build a Tour team will continue to cost him and, as you've said: it's a business. Everyone is for sale.
 
Jumbo's C-team + Kuss was better than SQS.

Ineos had 3 guys much better than Van Wilder, and that's after their strongest leader crashed out.
Quickstep had literally two guys left in the race. This isn't a benchmark.

I'm not saying Quickstep would have been the strongest team, of course they wouldn't have. But they would have been adequate. Lefevere is finding the transition from a cobbles team to a GC team quite hard (maybe because cobbles are a niche, relatively speaking... look at Pogacar who's just meddling in it and immediately is the strongest of them all) but they can still field a decent support team for Evenepoel. In the end it doesn't really matter anyway, as Ineos have so adequately shown by being the strongest team but still getting their a.ss kicked by Roglic.
 

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