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

[Berniece]

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.

Doubt it, I think SOQ thinks this is the optimal weight for him.

 

[AmRacer]

Doubt it, I think SOQ thinks this is the optimal weight for him.

Optimal for TT, climbing or something else?

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Doubt it, I think SOQ thinks this is the optimal weight for him.

Minus 1.5 kg, yes. They're probably right. Not for a race like the 2022 Vuelta, but with the Olympics in mind. They're not going to ruin his chances of two gold medals.

There's also the question if he can maintain a fat percentage as low as he had during the 2022 Vuelta and stay healthy for three weeks. The 2024 Tour is a different animal.

 

[Ripper]

Doubt it, I think SOQ thinks this is the optimal weight for him.

Yup. While I would be hesitant for anybody I care about to become a professional cyclist, partly because of the eating disorders and body weight issues, he definitely seems to struggle to keep it on the lighter side and to me at least that is obvious. Even with the crash and the break in training, one would reasonably expect a con commitment reduction in calorie intake that would still result in him being relatively lean this close to the tour.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Minus 1.5 kg, yes. They're probably right. Not for a race like the 2022 Vuelta, but with the Olympics in mind. They're not going to ruin his chances of two gold medals.

There's also the question if he can maintain a fat percentage as low as he had during the 2022 Vuelta and stay healthy for three weeks. The 2024 Tour is a different animal.

In 2022 he was lean from CSS til WCC. More than 3 weeks. And they are quite certainly wrong.

If OG are his real goal, they should just say so instead of this farce, claiming he wants to podium the TDF looking like mister Brick House.

 

[Andre]

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.

thank you for the positive perspective @Oldermanish. I hadn't looked at it in that angle. I was completely dumbfounded as to why he had entered the Dauphine with so much mass. But it makes more sense now.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Remco is preparing peak form for July. He will impress girls and smash Skeletor even before Grand Depart!

I was right from the start and we can see the signs at the Dauphine!

 

[Froome]

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.

If he weighs 63 kg, he is in similar kg/cm like Roglic and Pogacar are.

Pogacar 176 cm 65 kg 65/176=0.369

Roglic 177 cm 65 kg 66/177=0.367

Remco evenepoel 171 cm 63 kg 63/171=0.368

He will improve, but he will never be a pure climber. He will have to race like Miguel Indurain in Grand Tours.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I was right from the start and we can see the signs at the Dauphine!

If he wanted to smash Skeletor, he should have travelled to Tignes and asked for a picture.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

If he wanted to smash Skeletor, he should have travelled to Tignes and asked for a picture.

The situation has changed since then (Skeletor's crash). However, Teddy should hire a team of bodyguards.

 

[kingjr]

He'll be fine for the Tour. Good enough for a podium, I expect, if he can remain consistent for 3 weeks.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

If he weighs 63 kg, he is in similar kg/cm like Roglic and Pogacar are.

Pogacar 176 cm 65 kg 65/176=0.369

Roglic 177 cm 65 kg 66/177=0.367

Remco evenepoel 171 cm 63 kg 63/171=0.368

He will improve, but he will never be a pure climber. He will have to race like Miguel Indurain in Grand Tours.

Not sure that I have ever seen kg/cm as an indicator of anything or even a figure considered worth calculating.

BMI (widely used but not without controversy, especially at the extremes) is calculated as mass/height squared. Using the data above, that gives:
Pogacar 21.0
Roglic 20.7
Evenepoel 21.5

Ponderal Index, less widely used but considered more reliable for those particularly tall or short, is calculated as mass / height cubed, and gives
Pogacar 11.9
Roglic 11.7
Evenepoel 12.6


Not sure that anything very meaningful can be deduced from it though

 

[ppanther92]

Not sure that I have ever seen kg/cm as an indicator of anything or even a figure considered worth calculating.

BMI (widely used but not without controversy, especially at the extremes) is calculated as mass/height squared. Using the data above, that gives:
Pogacar 21.0
Roglic 20.7
Evenepoel 21.5

Ponderal Index, less widely used but considered more reliable for those particularly tall or short, is calculated as mass / height cubed, and gives
Pogacar 11.9
Roglic 11.7
Evenepoel 12.6


Not sure that anything very meaningful can be deduced from it though

Additionally, and according to Matxin, Pogacar will start the Tour at 63kg.

So yes, Evenepoel has certainly weight to lose if he wants to compete with the best climbers. He visibly looks bulky.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Mass overall is far too generalised an indicator, you would need fat, bone density, skeletal muscle where weight localises, along with innumerable other things to properly judge.

 

[ppanther92]

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.

He still climbs worse than Landa who also broke his ribs. So not really reassuring.

 

[ppanther92]

Mass overall is far too generalised an indicator, you would need fat, bone density, skeletal muscle where weight localises, along with innumerable other things to properly judge.

Thats true. But the steeper and longer a climb gets, the greater of an indicator is mass, I would say. Ofc someone could be really athletic and relatively heavy simply by being an outlier in bone and muscle mass. But then I would argue this is per se already not the best genetic frame to be a world class climber.

 

[CyclistAbi]

He still climbs worse than Landa who also broke his ribs. So not really reassuring.

He could be climbing better then Landa right now and still that would not be enough. This thread would still be like some sort of dieting forum on the internet. On where all participants know exactly what to do to maintain healthy weight but none of the participants really prepare to share their current BMI.

 

[shadowrider]

1.5 you can barely see a difference.

Oh yes you can, looking at the body and face of a trained top rider.

 

[shadowrider]

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.

In a few weeks there are less pollen. Actually they are at their peak in Western Europe.

 

[Divergence]

Remco needs to lose at least 4kg to be competitive on climbs. He looks like a track cyclist. Also maybe slim down the upper body, he does not need muscles there.

 

[Berniece]

In an interview with Sporza he says he’s going to lose 2kg’s by the time it’s important in the TDF. So I guess by the time the third week starts?

 

[shadowrider]

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.

He is not built as a climber and/or GC-specialist. He gains weight easily. So, it's always a struggle and at the end a compromise. It allows Evenepoel to shine in different disciplines..... but not automatically, not always at the requested period/day. But honestly, I have more respect for Evenepoel than the skeletal Vingegaard, even Roglic and the pure climbers and TT-specialists. There is actually one exception : Pogacar. Thin, but not too thin, allround, excellent (but not perfect) in one-dayraces, TT, sprints. But unapproachable in Grand Tours (if normally prepared).

 

[Red Rick]

Not sure that I have ever seen kg/cm as an indicator of anything or even a figure considered worth calculating.

BMI (widely used but not without controversy, especially at the extremes) is calculated as mass/height squared. Using the data above, that gives:
Pogacar 21.0
Roglic 20.7
Evenepoel 21.5

Ponderal Index, less widely used but considered more reliable for those particularly tall or short, is calculated as mass / height cubed, and gives
Pogacar 11.9
Roglic 11.7
Evenepoel 12.6


Not sure that anything very meaningful can be deduced from it though

How did I never even know Ponderal Index was a thing

 

[shadowrider]

Remco needs to lose at least 4kg to be competitive on climbs. He looks like a track cyclist. Also maybe slim down the upper body, he does not need muscles there.

Of course not. It's not linear. Because he has not the body of a climber or GC-rider in a GT. Losing 2 kg at maximum will improve his climbing capabilities. Losing 4 kg will lead to breakdowns and even healthissues.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

How did I never even know Ponderal Index was a thing

You probably just didn‘t ponder looking it up.