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

[Berniece]

Hahahaha

1-1.5kg, for real. I think he meant 5-5.1kg. At SQS they still seem to believe he can go toe to toe with the elite while weighing 63-64. That's the problem. He weighs what climbers over 10cm taller than him weigh. Or maybe he meant 1.5kg over what he should be weighing right now, and not at the start of the Tour, which would mean he needs to lose 3kg by the start of the Tour, which is not happening. Vuelta '23 all over again.

It’s silly to think we can properly guess his current weight. I agree that he doesn’t look the same as at the Vuelta of 2022, but I don’t know if that is 3kg’s, or 1.5kg’s.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

It’s silly to think we can properly guess his current weight. I agree that he doesn’t look the same as at the Vuelta of 2022, but I don’t know if that is 3kg’s, or 1.5kg’s.

1.5 you can barely see a difference.

 

[Andre]

It’s silly to think we can properly guess his current weight. I agree that he doesn’t look the same as at the Vuelta of 2022, but I don’t know if that is 3kg’s, or 1.5kg’s.

Weighing in at 61 kilos would be borderline I guess

 

[Andre]

Maybe by the third week of the Tour he could be down to 60 kilos

 

[Wvv]

He dropped quite early but is doing a decent ride nonetheless. Training, searching form, there is time. Will he win the Tour this year? Most likely not. Will he do a disastrous race? I wouldn't bet on it. KUTGW Remco.

 

[Didinho]

From the side views it looks like he’s wearing a weight training vest.
We’ll see in the first days of the Tour how he’s doing. The waiting game.

 

[Berniece]

He dropped quite early but is doing a decent ride nonetheless. Training, searching form, there is time. Will he win the Tour this year? Most likely not. Will he do a disastrous race? I wouldn't bet on it. KUTGW Remco.

I don’t know if you can improve your form that much by the start of the Tour. It’s not like Jorgensen is at his best now, he’s also going to improve

 

[Extinction]

Hahahaha

1-1.5kg, for real. I think he meant 5-5.1kg. At SQS they still seem to believe he can go toe to toe with the elite while weighing 63-64. That's the problem. He weighs what climbers over 10cm taller than him weigh. Or maybe he meant 1.5kg over what he should be weighing right now, and not at the start of the Tour, which would mean he needs to lose 3kg by the start of the Tour, which is not happening. Vuelta '23 all over again.

Good news though, if he gets dropped again today, it won't be due to being fat, it will be because of an allergic reaction to dust mites in the hotel last night.

You beat me too this. I was actually thinking the same thing, namely he needs to drop 5 kg. He's too muscular. How indeed does SQS think he can climb with the best with this stocky, muscular build? The Tour isn't LBL. Nor will his TT help him if he loses 10 minutes uphill.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I don’t know if you can improve your form that much by the start of the Tour. It’s not like Jorgensen is at his best now, he’s also going to improve

Riders can still peak too early or too late for that matter.

 

[peterfin]

I don’t know if you can improve your form that much by the start of the Tour. It’s not like Jorgensen is at his best now, he’s also going to improve

Remco may still be on a steeper part of the progress curve. He clearly still misses the power to accelerate but he does show he has the pace to diesel his way up at the speed of the GC group. I think he will not be top yet at the start of the Tour but hopefully he will be top by the third week and still be in striking distance from the podium. I don't think he need to give up that goal and start stage hunting.

 

[Andre]

...never mind...I just saw the end of the race. A bit disappointed that Remco lost more time. My hopes are being crushed, although I realize he's not in top form and over his preferred weight, I was still expecting better ( although I'm probably being unrealistic). Sad day

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

You beat me too this. I was actually thinking the same thing, namely he needs to drop 5 kg. He's too muscular. How indeed does SQS think he can climb with the best with this stocky, muscular build? The Tour isn't LBL. Nor will his TT help him if he loses 10 minutes uphill.

He will easily take 23 more seconds in the TT though! It's genius. They will never recover from that blow. Then Remco at the start can flex his pecs to further demoralise them.

Maybe by the third week of the Tour he could be down to 60 kilos

This is ancient thinking. You can't lose weight during a GT, that was done in the 80s and 90s. We now know that's counter productive.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If everyone apart from him is on the Arensman GT diet, he can definitely still win the Tour.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Tomorrow's stage should suit him much better. (Even) more medium mountain-ish. A hell of a lot more false flat, too.

 

[Ripper]

Hahahaha

1-1.5kg, for real. I think he meant 5-5.1kg. At SQS they still seem to believe he can go toe to toe with the elite while weighing 63-64. That's the problem. He weighs what climbers over 10cm taller than him weigh. Or maybe he meant 1.5kg over what he should be weighing right now, and not at the start of the Tour, which would mean he needs to lose 3kg by the start of the Tour, which is not happening. Vuelta '23 all over again.

Good news though, if he gets dropped again today, it won't be due to being fat, it will be because of an allergic reaction to dust mites in the hotel last night.

SQS ... sigh. The team is just not inspiring confidence moving things in the right direction, are they?

No doubt that Remco is ultra talented, but he does seem to be built more solidly than others. I'm not sure if he's just naturally a bit heavier, or that's somehow some sort of weird training philosophy, but if they keep on having to yo-yo his weight up and down through the year over the course of a few weeks, and that's not going to work so well for GT performance or even general health.

 

[AmRacer]

SQS ... sigh. The team is just not inspiring confidence moving things in the right direction, are they?

No doubt that Remco is ultra talented, but he does seem to be built more solidly than others. I'm not sure if he's just naturally a bit heavier, or that's somehow some sort of weird training philosophy, but if they keep on having to yo-yo his weight up and down through the year over the course of a few weeks, and that's not going to work so well for GT performance or even general health.

Remco's weight differs during the year
Mountain
Beach
Coffe
TT
Cake

Remco must alway hit right weight for the task, or he fails to perform his best.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Remco's weight differs during the year
Mountain
Beach
Coffe
TT
Cake

Remco must alway hit right weight for the task, or he fails to perform his best.

One of your better posts, or at least, closer to the truth than you probably imagine. He wants to beat Ganna and Tarling in long flat TT's, and he wants to be able to climb with the elite. He can do both, but not at the same weight.

 

[CyclistAbi]

This all still has roots in that crash from Itzulia, it's just not realistic Remco (or Jonas) to be at their best so soon. On top of that the mass crash at Dauphiné certainly didn't help in this regards and likely Remco could abandon already still he decided to fight on so respect for that. For Tour he should be aiming to reach his LBL form and to go stage hunting, the rest is bonus. There will be Tour editions more favourable in regards to injuries and for that Remco can worry about things like perfect GC weight.

 

[AmRacer]

This all still has roots in that crash from Itzulia, it's just not realistic Remco (or Jonas) to be at their best so soon. On top of that the mass crash at Dauphiné certainly didn't help in this regards and likely Remco could abandon already still he decided to fight on so respect for that. For Tour he should be aiming to reach his LBL form and to go stage hunting, the rest is bonus. There will be Tour editions more favourable in regards to injuries and for that Remco can worry about things like perfect GC weight.

I second that. Remco stage hunting against Mathieu would be awesome. And Remco can, like Mathieu, use the Tour as preparation for Olympics.

 

[samhocking]

But with the wrong weight goals. I don’t think he’ll lose 2kg’s by the start of the Tour. Although that isn’t the only problem. He’s also not pushing the numbers he can at his best, and that has nothing to do with his weight.

He's also suffering from his pollen allergy too at the moment. I think he can hold the required w/kg at his current weight, but not with allergies. It's going to be major Grand Tour hurdle if the team can't get that resolved.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So Fatco's weight discussions are back! I definitely overestimated his form after the TT forgetting that in his case good TT performances are less indicative of mountain level than in case of other GC guys.

 

[Salvarani]

Remco's weight differs during the year
Mountain
Beach
Coffe
TT
Cake

Remco must alway hit right weight for the task, or he fails to perform his best.

It is why I been saying this Tour-bid was never gonna be a serious one, this season at least.

He was doing Tour because he really needed to do it, after not being able to do it and for other reasons, but also taking into account it was going to be the best prep for Olympics. The crash in Itzulia only locked that in for him.

Now Olympics and Worlds are both opportunities to salvage the season. Make it a huge success. I believe it were the two most realistic targets from the beginning and maybe was the plan in the background anyway, but what do I know.

 

[Mayomaniac]

One of your better posts, or at least, closer to the truth than you probably imagine. He wants to beat Ganna and Tarling in long flat TT's, and he wants to be able to climb with the elite. He can do both, but not at the same weight.

Honestly, the team and his coach should have figured it out by now. You can't just pretend that he can do everything at the same weight "because he's Remco". They go his weight for a GT right once and that was the 2022 Vuelta. One would think that they'd try to replicate that formula.

 

[Netserk]

Maybe he doesn’t have the attributes needed to regularly hit that weight. It’s not just a push on a button.

That too is part of the package of a GT talent.

 

[Oldermanish]

...never mind...I just saw the end of the race. A bit disappointed that Remco lost more time. My hopes are being crushed, although I realize he's not in top form and over his preferred weight, I was still expecting better ( although I'm probably being unrealistic). Sad day

If you look at his effort for recovery, add in the crash this week and his ability to stay on track you should be very upbeat. Any realistic pre-race projection would have his peak at the TT and then hold on for any bonus performance.
If he needs to drop some mass before the Tour he does have time. If he didn't have that added muscle his shoulder recovery would be weeks behind; you can't be both things with that injury. He still is reluctant to get out of the saddle to use power and that'll improve.