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

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I think the main difference is that last year they needed to rush him into what they consider his TdF weight whilst juggling training/condition/... . This year they could ease him into his TdF weight. Allowing for a better training prep. Not having to worry about the weight factor.
Despite that rushed preparation the 2024 Tour was still the best we have ever seen Remco climb IMO. For example, on PdB, Remco also broke Pantani's record. With his better prep this year Remco is the 3rd leg to what is shaping up to be a titanic battle in July.
 
Despite that rushed preparation the 2024 Tour was still the best we have ever seen Remco climb IMO. For example, on PdB, Remco also broke Pantani's record. With his better prep this year Remco is the 3rd leg to what is shaping up to be a titanic battle in July.
You are overrating what he can do. Bernal won the Tour after braking his collarbone. He had 12 weeks to recover, not 9 like Pogacar (a "simple" injury just like Remco). And I'm pretty sure the gap for Vingegaard and Pogacar will be bigger than ever even if the actual gap (in time) is smaller due to Pogi and Vingo battle (looking to each other like Contador and Schleck in Tourmalet).
 
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Vingegaard's injury was wors, and Pogacar did the Giro.
This year, both arrive without injury and without a Giro.

If Remco closes the gap, it will be because he's young and may have improved, but not because he was in worse condition last year due to a collarbone injury more than three months earlier.
 
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I would love to see another TdF in which nothing happens to these 3 protagonists and we get to see them compete each other for 3 weeks at the highest possible level. But i've seen enough GT's to know, the odds are against us.
Pogacar, but why not do a retro course of 86, let's say, with long distances, and come what may. I'd love to see how todays bunch would fair, tactics wise and so forth.
 
You are overrating what he can do
Remco broke Pantani's PdB record by 40 seconds. Not sure how I can overrate that, its an objective fact. Sure they raced hard from the bottom with Matteo but we are comparing to Pantani's era and a record which stood for 26 years.

When Armstrong won on PdB in 2002 he had a leadout by US Postal (José Luis Rubiera) but was 3 minutes slower than Remco last year.

Note, I am not saying Remco can rival Pogacar and Vingegaard. I am simply pointing out Remco can be an elite climber and this year he should be even better. I think he can be third best climber again.

 
Remco broke Pantani's PdB record by 40 seconds. Not sure how I can overrate that, its an objective fact. Sure they raced hard from the bottom with Matteo but we are comparing to Pantani's era and a record which stood for 26 years.

When Armstrong won on PdB in 2002 he had a leadout by US Postal (José Luis Rubiera) but was 3 minutes slower than Remco last year.

Note, I am not saying Remco can rival Pogacar and Vingegaard. I am simply pointing out Remco can be an elite climber and this year he should be even better. I think he can be third best climber again.

Overrate what he can do without his broken collarbone in early April. I don't think he could be much better. Other thing important to say is that Remco was almost 3 minutes behind (even if he was better than Pantani) Pogacar in 10.5 km at 7%. This is a gigantic difference.
However I also believe he will be third in July.
 
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Overrate what he can do without his broken collarbone in early April. I don't think he could be much better. Other thing important to say is that Remco was almost 3 minutes behind (even if he was better than Pantani) Pogacar in 10.5 km at 7%. This is a gigantic difference.
However I also believe he will be third in July.
You don’t think Evenepoel will climb better now than last year? Because you think Evenepoel still carries the crash of December with him? Or crashes don’t have an effect on people anymore?