• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

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

Page 701 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Should we change the thread title?


  • Total voters
    110
Who even gets the starting money lol.
Lefevre running stuff like a small Italian PCT team and openly talking about it. I can't imagine that sponsors are actually happy with him always running his mouth and talking bs. He's the anti-Saronni. Saronni usually talked nice and reasonable stuff (besides throwing Aru under the bus during the 2020 Tour on live tv), but couldn't manage a Lidl store properly.
 
Strictly speaking, time-trialing is a competition but not a race. So he still has to make his French pro-racing debut
Chrono des nations is a pro race and winning it counts as a pro win, just like winning world ITT championships. So it's his only pro race day in France. Stop with this 'competition but not a race' nonsense and go have some fun on a nice Saturday.
 
Lefevre running stuff like a small Italian PCT team and openly talking about it.
I understand the comparison, but obviously this is not the case. First of all, this is the image he likes to create, that of being a poor schmo, the ultimate underdog who has to battle against titans. David and Goliath. Secondly, you don't get decades of results by running a team like PCT pseudo amateurs. And finally, there is some truth to the first point, but obviously not to the extent he likes to pretend. But it is true that in order to compete against bigger and richer teams, the team has to be run like a tight ship. I do believe that if you put another manager in his place with the same means, that the team would crumble. I believe the reason why the team has been as successful as it has been given the circumstances, is exactly because he is in full control.

This doesn't mean i agree with everything he does or that i think the team doesn't make mistakes.
 
I understand the comparison, but obviously this is not the case. First of all, this is the image he likes to create, that of being a poor schmo, the ultimate underdog who has to battle against titans. David and Goliath. Secondly, you don't get decades of results by running a team like PCT pseudo amateurs. And finally, there is some truth to the first point, but obviously not to the extent he likes to pretend. But it is true that in order to compete against bigger and richer teams, the team has to be run like a tight ship. I do believe that if you put another manager in his place with the same means, that the team would crumble. I believe the reason why the team has been as successful as it has been given the circumstances, is exactly because he is in full control.

This doesn't mean i agree with everything he does or that i think the team doesn't make mistakes.
Yeah, it was a bit of a hyperbole and mainly a jab at his obsession to monetize everything.

One can't deny his talent as a team ower and to pick the right people as ds/staff members an so on. That's why I called him the ani-Saronni. Lefevre can be a bit of a PR nightmare, but he has been running a top team for decades, that one is hard to deny.
 
After defending his Tour crown, next year fulfilled Vingegaard will get back to a calm fisherman's life.
Pogacar, after another year of Merckxian craziness, will be a crippled (he's almost there already) and burnt-out, old man.
Then Remco, a new sheriff in town, will enter the scene and beat all those wannabes at the Tour!
How much is it not just Lefevere angling for Vuelta appearance fees.
...good point Rick Moderator. I was also wondering how much influx or influence does Remco have in the decisions? i.e. Patrick says "no Vuelta" Remco says "yes Vuelta".
 
Yeah, it was a bit of a hyperbole and mainly a jab at his obsession to monetize everything.

One can't deny his talent as a team ower and to pick the right people as ds/staff members an so on. That's why I called him the ani-Saronni. Lefevre can be a bit of a PR nightmare, but he has been running a top team for decades, that one is hard to deny.
He definitely succeeded in maximizing his opportunities with his budget. The bigger question is if Remco's ambitions are a good fit with Lefevre's plans? Lefevre may do the right things for the team and still damage Remco's career, in particular his GT ambitions. I think this is a clear risk now as SQS classic team evaporated and the decision to build a GT team conflicts with strengthening his classic team.
 
...good point Rick Moderator. I was also wondering how much influx or influence does Remco have in the decisions? i.e. Patrick says "no Vuelta" Remco says "yes Vuelta".
Then it's yes Vuelta. Lefevere has already said a couple of times that when Evenepoel wants to ride a certain race, that he is the one to make the final call. Even after his Giro DNF, he said that Evenepoel would not go to the Tour... unless he really wanted to himself. Evenepoel was also the one to decide going to the 2020 Giro while that was not planned (he stalked Lefevere on whatsapp with Italian flags). Then he crashed, and again Evenepoel wanted to go to the 2021 Giro, which the team should have advised against more firmly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Andre
Then it's yes Vuelta. Lefevere has already said a couple of times that when Evenepoel wants to ride a certain race, that he is the one to make the final call. Even after his Giro DNF, he said that Evenepoel would not go to the Tour... unless he really wanted to himself. Evenepoel was also the one to decide going to the 2020 Giro while that was not planned (he stalked Lefevere on whatsapp with Italian flags). Then he crashed, and again Evenepoel wanted to go to the 2021 Giro, which the team should have advised against more firmly.
I learned something new
 
If he's good enough to go to le Suisse he's good enough to go to a training camp to prepare le tour
Or actually prepare to defend his Vuelta title against the prior victor. The one that crashed out of '22 Vuelta and just won the Giro. If that isn't a showdown to settle the score (at least for fans) I don't know of a race that would advance his WC ambitions better.
I'm sure Primoz would be happy for the company.
 
Except that it makes perfect sense. He peaked for the Giro, had to recover from covid and just started training a few days ago. If he went to the Tour he would never be in top shape and he could never prolong his Giro peak throughout the Tour and into the WCC. Maybe he could do a top 10 in the TDF, but that's not where his ambitions lie. If he goes, he wants to win or at least contend for victory. Going for stages is a complete waste of time, they will automatically come whenever he goes in the future. Especially since winning a WCC (RR or TT) easily tops a stagewin in the Tour. Even more so because in that scenario he could still realistically ad Vuelta where he can go for a second GC win as well as multiple stage wins, with Lombardia afterwards.

So it makes one-zero-zero sense.
It is the biggest race and even if not at 100% he should go. One never knows what will happen in the race and how the body will react. All this waiting around for I do not even know what is pretty ridiculous.
 
It is the biggest race and even if not at 100% he should go. One never knows what will happen in the race and how the body will react. All this waiting around for I do not even know what is pretty ridiculous.
Basically the choice is between being able to ride the Tour unprepared, with dubious form, and not being able to compete for much else all year in peak form, except perhaps Lombardia.
And on the other hand ditching the Tour, getting ready to ride the WCC well prepared, in peak form, do San Sebastian and Vuelta and Lombardia and being able to compete for the win in all of them.

Basically, do you value a top 10 in the Tour higher than a podium in La Vuelta in addition to being able to go to the WCC at full strength? For me this is a no-brainer, even if you might describe it as "for I do not even know what".
 
Basically the choice is between being able to ride the Tour unprepared, with dubious form, and not being able to compete for much else all year in peak form, except perhaps Lombardia.
And on the other hand ditching the Tour, getting ready to ride the WCC well prepared, in peak form, do San Sebastian and Vuelta and Lombardia and being able to compete for the win in all of them.

Basically, do you value a top 10 in the Tour higher than a podium in La Vuelta in addition to being able to go to the WCC at full strength? For me this is a no-brainer, even if you might describe it as "for I do not even know what".
Grand Tours is what counts. WCC and Lombardia are nice but it is better to show yourself and have a decent result at the Tour (which I believe Remco can have) than it is to be the ITT WC.
 

TRENDING THREADS