He can't simply skip the NC Road Race unless he fakes an injury/illness. He could skip the NC TT but I kinda prefer that he rides both with a chance to win (and a very high chance at the TT) over some recons of the TDF stages.
Yeah I was implying that he should just fake it. I find it silly that it's obligatory.
4th instead of 5th is something you have no idea about before events unfold because he tapped out before finding out. And I don't buy that pacing Lecerf up a climb once is gonna make any tangible impact and it's much more important how he treats his teammates behind the scenes.
And it's not only about Thyon 2000, but also about stage 2 that they paced all day for. Once Lecerf was in front, Evenepoel was a lame duck in the group.
That narrative may help Remco mentally as well.
Not sure what you are saying, but do you mean to say that if he rode for himself he might have done better than a 4th place? I think these atletes are very capable of knowing their limits. He knows the wattage he's pushing, what his heart rate is and how he's feeling. I'm not saying miracles couldn't happen, but in this case the best bet was to help his teammate.
Mm yeah I understand your point but I just prefer to see him race for the win as much as possible (even if it's 'only' the NC), especially in this already shortened season.
I got suckered and it'll be at least another two years before I go there again.
You don't want to listen to a 4 hour recap of 2 hours of race action?
Yeah... so what has he and the team been doing the past months when he wasn't able to train due to his injury? Wasn't that the ideal moment to do extensive recons and analysis of the TDF route?
Maybe Remco wasn't able to do a proper recon on the bike before end of Mars.
I find it very hard to judge a road by driving over it in a car. I guess they didn‘t think it was worth it.
Two stage wins, and especially a chunkload of time. After Galibier, he is only a few seconds behind Vingegaard on the top, yet he can't catch Vingegaard until the descent has long ended and he himself has been caught by Ayuso etc. If he catches Vingegaard in the descent, they can work together on the flat, keep Ayuso's group behind and very likely catch Pogacar.
If they are lazy, sure. I would expect a minimum of effort checking out key spots and especially finishes. I don't know whether at SQS they are physically impaired, but most people are able to park the car, get out, and walk for 500 meters to get a good idea of the road. It baffles me if they did not take the time to do that back in january or february when he couldn't train.
I don't think so. What has changed? He has done good descents in the past before, just to be followed by very poor descending days/weeks/months later. There was a lot of talk about helping him improve his bikehandling skills (he was going to do cyclo cross training in the winter, he was going to take cornering lessons from Cal Crutchlow to improve his descending...) None of that happened to my knowledge.
oh, well hopefully he does these things soon. Remco is still young enough to improve a whole lot...but of course like you've said, he'll need some better handlers and trainers to accomplish more success
Not really, didn’t he go to physio 2-3 times per week in Antwerp? Hard to combine that with recon. But I do agree that they should’ve been able to find the time for it from the moment physio is over.
2 or 3 times per week, that still means you have at least 2 days in a row in between that you can use to do recons. I doubt the physio works on Sundays. They didn't have to do all 21 stages at once.
No. He speaks his mind, and i often don't agree with his analysis, but it's at least honest. LRCP has evolved into a cringefest with the protagonists thinking (or acting like) they invented the wheel and they are the stars of cycling. Yet they often come up with moronic analysis or poorly informed takes.
I find that quite difficult to arrange, they do most stuff by car. So by driving to and from you already lost 1-2 days. Then do recon and immediately go back?
It doesn't really matter when, but he should have had more time than riders who were actually racing before April. And I don't see why that should have been difficult to arrange. Take a plane, rent a car for stages too far south. We used to ride to Disney land in the morning, spend the day there, come back after dark, all on the same day. Not every stage needs to be reconned, not the entire route of the stages that do, need to be reconned. Not all stages need to be reconned on one day. It's pure laziness and amateurish to go to the TDF with the ambition to at least podium and not knowing the route
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