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

[James M]

How people talk up he was gonne beat Pogacar or even follow him on the climbs to the finish is to funny even tho Pogacar isnt at his best it just is sorry, objectively how on earth can you expect him too do that? Based on what from a objective standpoint makes you think he ever could do that? always will be funny then they expect people to take em seriously as its objectively not backwords.

Not the biggest surprise that he didn’t have the best climbing legs, struggled in AGR too on the climbs. I just don’t get how people are really surprised. Indeed, I didn’t expect him to be this bad indeed, but fair game—he tried, especially being back so soon after injury. Nothing but respect for that. He gave it a shot and wasn’t at his best today, properly hadnt recovered fully from Fleche —that’s obvious as well, but still, the expectations are just not based on reality.
And I like Remco

 

[Salvarani]

but fair game—he tried

Did he really? I am not sure.

Interesting to see how he performs in Romandie now. Will tell more about what happened today.

 

[jmdirt]

Solid return to racing RE...keep it rollin'!

 

[Medvind]

Maybe we should criticize Remco some, but to be honest we should have known this could happen. It was probably wrong to hype him up as much as some of us did. He "baited" us to do so with his solid performances in BP and AGR.

We know that a fully prepared Remco perfomes better than this, he wasn't even close to the level in 2022 and 2023. And to be fair to Remco he has hinted that a setback was possible given that his build up has been limited due to injury.

Pog won in a dominating fashion without even going really deep. Remco must actually show he can threaten Pog in a monument before we can talk him up as a serious threat to Pog.

 

[Extinction]

Like I said, you can't improvise Liege. The distance, the attrition is too much. Now he must reset, but Pogacar has already fatally entered his head

 

[Berniece]

How people talk up he was gonne beat Pogacar or even follow him on the climbs to the finish is to funny even tho Pogacar isnt at his best it just is sorry, objectively how on earth can you expect him too do that? Based on what from a objective standpoint makes you think he ever could do that?

Because we thought his level would improve after AGR. You are acting as if people would say he will win the TDF

 

[jmdirt]

Because we thought his level would improve after AGR. You are acting as if people would say he will win the TDF

What happened is exactly what I expected (as I posted above... probably 20 pages back now.

 

[Berniece]

What happened is exactly what I expected (as I posted above... probably 20 pages back now.

I thought this would happen before he rode so well in BP and AGR. After AGR I thought he was going to win LBL

 

[James M]

Maybe we should criticize Remco some, but to be honest we should have known this could happen. It was probably wrong to hype him up as much as some of us did. He "baited" us to do so with his solid performances in BP and AGR.

We know that a fully prepared Remco perfomes better than this, he wasn't even close to the level in 2022 and 2023. And to be fair to Remco he has hinted that a setback was possible given that his build up has been limited due to injury.

Pog won in a dominating fashion without even going really deep. Remco must actually show he can threaten Pog in a monument before we can talk him up as a serious threat to Pog.

Again, I don’t mean to come across as critical of him—more so, I’m surprised by the expectations from some people beforehand, thats all. AGR was always an anomaly, if not for the obvious PR factor, headwind on the flats in a 2 vs. 1 situation, then the sheer dip in numbers from Pog’s perspective. It was always an anomaly—it’s not like it happened on the climbs anyway, where the true test comes in Liege at the end, and everyone knew that in advance cmon. Then comes Fleche, where he wins with the biggest margin ever, even while sitting up for the last 10 seconds. Even if he’s on a downturn, which he is—the expectations are out of control, which is the only thing I don’t understand. Pog’s numbers since 2024 across every metric have been off the charts, even more now. It’s extreme to expect Remco to follow him on Pog’s terrain. MvdP is lucky he doesn’t have to, but Remco doesn’t share that same luck.

To me, he’s shown balls, he showed up. Also honestly, if you had asked me before he started his season at Brabantse Pijl, I would have said he performed way above my expectations in every race, considering the circumstances. Every race except Liege, where, again I would be surprised if he would be within 30-40 sec of Pog which I said and he performed under my expectations but I won’t fault him—he was clearly fatigued from the previous races, which can happen. Like Remco said prior to the race he was impressed how good numbers he had now and if youd asked him that 3-4 months ago he would be thrilled, no reason to feel bad imo.

 

[yaco]

Because we thought his level would improve after AGR. You are acting as if people would say he will win the TDF

I didn't think his level would improve after AGR because he started his season late and he is trying to fit 4 high quality races in a ten day block. it will be interesting to see how he performs in Romandie.

 

[Oldman]

If Remco doesn't have his climbing legs and weight, what's the point going to Romandie?
Besides testing his TT.

More racing miles. After today it's clear he needs some work if he intends to finish the Tour.

 

[AmRacer]

More racing miles. After today it's clear he needs some work if he intends to finish the Tour.

Romandie might not have the best parcours for Remco getting the hard miles, besides TT

 

[Oldman]

Maybe we should criticize Remco some, but to be honest we should have known this could happen. It was probably wrong to hype him up as much as some of us did. He "baited" us to do so with his solid performances in BP and AGR.

We know that a fully prepared Remco perfomes better than this, he wasn't even close to the level in 2022 and 2023. And to be fair to Remco he has hinted that a setback was possible given that his build up has been limited due to injury.

Pog won in a dominating fashion without even going really deep. Remco must actually show he can threaten Pog in a monument before we can talk him up as a serious threat to Pog.

I'm not sure you can gauge Pogacar's level of fatigue but he definitely is on his own plan. No more races until the Dauphine while Remco needs to keep working on his own terms. Today should have confirmed that to him and his training analysts. No need to f*ck up a good comeback with pressure.

 

[Oldman]

Romandie might not have the best parcours for Remco getting the hard miles, besides TT

I don't think he needs hard miles after this first block; just miles. He can target specific stages to test his progress but rest/racing is a thing, too.

 

[Salvarani]

More racing miles.

Is he up for it though?

I dont know what to make of it today, since he barely contested it.

If he smashes Romandie thats just brings more questions for me on what today was about.

 

[HashRouge]

Does anyone know if Remco has given any interviews about today? I'm just interested whether he was out of position on purpose coming into La Redoute (i.e. because he didn't feel great) or if it was simply bad positioning, which then cost him a lot of energy. I feel like it's not the first time he's missed a Pogacar attack because he's been in a poor position.

 

[Unchained]

More racing miles. After today it's clear he needs some work if he intends to finish the Tour.

Certainly deep sadness that Remco's circle allowed him to drink the Kool-Aid!!
He needed to have realistic and measured expectations based on racing realities not some storybook comeback BS about meditation and media hype. He needs volume and race days, just like he always did, like everyone does with and without injuries.
Allowing Remco to buy into he could just will himself in top form was, is, a stupid strategy.
Guy is a generational talent, could stop racing tomorrow and his accomplishments are astounding! Now someone lets him get hit in the face of a big bucket of publicly realized humility as he got dropped from elite where he raced for a couple of days. He will return, he will be great and win again, his handlers, including his father need to discourage him from riding an emotional crushing rollercoaster on purpose. The person that can learn the most from this disaster is Vingegaard..be realistic about where you fit in as you comeback from injuries. Mental and physical.. Anyone telling these 2 great racers that they can trade blows with heavyweight champion Pogacar on their first days back after injury layoff are idiots.

 

[Extinction]

Certainly deep sadness that Remco's circle allowed him to drink the Kool-Aid!!
He needed to have realistic and measured expectations based on racing realities not some storybook comeback BS about meditation and media hype. He needs volume and race days, just like he always did, like everyone does with and without injuries.
Allowing Remco to buy into he could just will himself in top form was, is, a stupid strategy.
Guy is a generational talent, could stop racing tomorrow and his accomplishments are astounding! Now someone lets him get hit in the face of a big bucket of publicly realized humility as he got dropped from elite where he raced for a couple of days. He will return, he will be great and win again, his handlers, including his father need to discourage him from riding an emotional crushing rollercoaster on purpose. The person that can learn the most from this disaster is Vingegaard..be realistic about where you fit in as you comeback from injuries. Mental and physical.. Anyone telling these 2 great racers that they can trade blows with heavyweight champion Pogacar on their first days back after injury layoff are idiots.

He had to do these races, but what it does to his head is anyone's guess.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If Remco doesn't have his climbing legs and weight, what's the point going to Romandie?
Besides testing his TT.

Stager 4 likely to decide if Remco to be overall winner or not, testing his ability to at least hang on. So the main idea likely is to do a benchmark, build some form and preferably to win overall. From some prestige point of view Remco vs João will be an interesting rivalry considering their past.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1916543414742511663

View: https://x.com/EvenepoelRemco/status/1916543414742511663

 

[jmdirt]

I dont know what to make of it today, since he barely contested it.

There was a 90+% chance that today would go exactly like it did.
Injury
Recovery from injury
Base
Training
Racing (better than expected)
His body rebelling against the physiological shock of the first races

Anyone betting on his form getting better for today was gambling on terrible odds.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Remco will be fine moving forward. I shall be looking forward to seeing him on the TT bike on Tuesday already. Remco on a TT bike is like zero kelvin, the reference, total order.

 

[Salvarani]

There was a 90+% chance that today would go exactly like it did.
Injury
Recovery from injury
Base
Training
Racing (better than expected)
His body rebelling against the physiological shock of the first races

Anyone betting on his form getting better for today was gambling on terrible odds.

I am not sure any of those are the cause yet though. Has he said anything after the race?

I want to see how he goes in Romandie.

For the most part of the race he was at the front. He went missing on the way to Redoute. There was a big fight for position. Did that make him uneasy in any way?

He still climbed Redoute alright. Had he been better positioned he would have surely been with Ciccone, Healy, Pidcock and Ala at minimum going over the top.

He was active shortly after and bridged a gap to a group in between him and the others. That became a small peloton.

I just dont know what really happened.

 

[Netserk]

I am not sure any of those are the cause yet though. Has he said anything after the race?

I want to see how he goes in Romandie.

For the most part of the race he was at the front. He went missing on the way to Redoute. There was a big fight for position. Did that make him uneasy in any way?

He still climbed Redoute alright. Had he been better positioned he would have surely been with Ciccone, Healy, Pidcock and Ala at minimum going over the top.

He was active shortly after and bridged a gap to a group in between him and the others. That became a small peloton.

I just dont know what really happened.

It makes sense for the Gulperberg crash to have been in a fight for position and that to affect him today.

 

[Red Rick]

I'd be very surprised if he's in the mix for the win in Romandie. Thyon should be a much bigger problem for him than the Liege parcours, and the TTs in Romandie are super technical as well, so I doubt he takes that much time to begin with.