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

[Didier_Bel]

Very good effort to catch up to leading group at 5Km from finish and I did feel at that point that he had a shot for the stage win . However , where was he in the last two climbs when big accelerations were needed ?
I mean , yes he was impressive on the flat but I really need to see his climbing this week and , more particularly , his ability to react when big bombs are thrown in any of the Mountain stages .

The following days and time trial with its 1,8 Km climb in middle will be a bit more revealing , I am sure .

 

[KoopaCycling]

Imo Remco should not have jumped after, and just stayed in the peloton. And when he did decide to jump, he should not have worked like he did. Peloton would likely have closed, he would have not wasted any energy and his rivals would not have gotten bonus seconds. Today was a minor loss for Remco. Should have just stayed in the belly of the peloton. Remco his sprint is decent after a tough long race and his opponents are relatively cooked. But against fresh legs, he should never back himself like that against opponents that are known to be faster than him.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Besides positioning he rode well, closed that gap instantly and easily. If only he would’ve been at the front when it mattered. Nevertheless nice race.

One would think it's not rocket science when your two rivals are at the front. But apparently it is.

 

[Didier_Bel]

Was the bad positioning due to tactical mistake(s) or due to , still , a lack of accelerating ability in the climbs ? That is the real question .

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

One would think it's not rocket science when your two rivals are at the front. But apparently it is.

It's not like they did not try to stay at the front. He and a domestique tried, but they got swamped over and then lost time when the peloton got streched out at a pinch point on a rounabout.

 

[AmRacer]

It's not like they did not try to stay at the front. He and a domestique tried, but they got swamped over and then lost time when the peloton got streched out at a pinch point on a rounabout.

Remco, and SQS, must do better.

 

[Berniece]

One would think it's not rocket science when your two rivals are at the front. But apparently it is.

He was well in the front for 10-15km’s and then suddenly 2 km’s before foot of the climb they lost their position. I don’t know why.

 

[Unchained]

Was the bad positioning due to tactical mistake(s) or due to , still , a lack of accelerating ability in the climbs ? That is the real question .

He just got in a bad spot, on the last @3 k he looked to have power and speed equal to anyone in the break, he is wearing white and has to be extremely happy with everything about everything today, could say the same about all in the break.. Super human to stay out at 100% effort and still come up with 120% for sprint!! I still can't get over the ability to carry that speed for @500 meters..

 

[Karl Merckx]

he said he was far bc he was sure there would be a bunch sprint today

 

[AmRacer]

he said he was far bc he was sure there would be a bunch sprint today

Cannot gamble like that.

 

[Gigs_98]

he said he was far bc he was sure there would be a bunch sprint today

It's so funny to me that a team with all the cycling experience and resources one could dream of can come to that conclusion. I guess there was a reasonable likelihood of this stage ending in a bunch sprint but everyone knew that Pogacar & Co. would go over that final hill in the top 5 positions and if that's the case you can always have gc gaps.

 

[Frobisher Bay]

It is really frustrating that he always needs to come from so far... If you see Visma dominating the front, and Pogacar constantly in the first five positions, you need to be there. It's no rocket science.
He did too much work in the group of 5 as well.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Remco says he is currently at about the same shape he was during tour of last year. I'm hoping he says that with room to improve, and he ain't in shape 2 early. Normally given his rushed prep last year, he should still be better in a month and change, but you never know.

He looks and talks happy. Lets hope he gets through the rest of the season crash free, or only has light crashes without damage, and we'll see what the rest of the season has in store.

On a very unimportant note. I just can't warm up to soudal (& remco) racegear/jerseys this season. Lets hope they have better looking stuff next year. (assuming he still rides for them, which i think he will)

Yeah, Bob Roll was saying Remco weighs 3.5pounds less than he did last year at this time of year, so by the time the Tour rolls around he should weigh even less. (If that is the plan.) I thought he looked really good today! (And he also looked dead serious when he stood on the podium for the white jersey, it's like he was contemplating a very serious strategy or was just taking it all in in a serious manner.)

 

[Cycling111]

It's so funny to me that a team with all the cycling experience and resources one could dream of can come to that conclusion. I guess there was a reasonable likelihood of this stage ending in a bunch sprint but everyone knew that Pogacar & Co. would go over that final hill in the top 5 positions and if that's the case you can always have gc gaps.

They weren't the only ones, UAE too
Only Pogacar was in the right place, his team...

Pm the other hand, Visma had up to four riders and attacked with three of them: Tulett, Jorgenson, and Vingegaard.

 

[Extinction]

Just saw the race highlights. Remco ended up leading out Tadej and Jonas and sat up with 20 meters to go. I was surprised MvDP got beaten in that finish.

 

[Salvarani]

He lost position again in the hectic time on the descent before the last hill, same as in LBL.

I dont think he is comfortable when it gets that stressful at the front.

Yet he must have ridden the hill well to move up and had the power to close the gap to others on the flat.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Just saw the race highlights. Remco ended up leading out Tadej and Jonas and sat up with 20 meters to go. I was surprised MvDP got beaten in that finish.

I'm actually surprised MVDP is even racing given his recent MTB mishap. I didn't notice whether he had any kind of bandage or splint on his wrist...

 

[Berniece]

It's so funny to me that a team with all the cycling experience and resources one could dream of can come to that conclusion. I guess there was a reasonable likelihood of this stage ending in a bunch sprint but everyone knew that Pogacar & Co. would go over that final hill in the top 5 positions and if that's the case you can always have gc gaps.

Even more so because Healy and Pogacar already drilled it the round before, and almost got away. You should be able to imagine that if they go harder than Healy, you might have a gap.

 

[dobrien]

I'm a big fan, but it's just frustrating watching him having to yet again fire a bullet he could have used at the end due to being out of position; time and time again it seems with him. Certainly, that was a jaw-dropping bridge, he just rocketed across the gap...but if he is to beat the very best of the best he simply cannot afford that stuff; that was a winnable race for him today imho. The whole idea of not riding at the front because he thought it was going to be a sprint seems ludicrous to me; Pog and Ving were at the front and that's where he needed to be, end of story. In any event, on the plus side I'm inspired to see him in good form, much better than last year at this time; the coming week should be very interesting. Onward!

 

[Oldman]

Mathieu cannot help Remco in the mountains, it's there he needs help.

Remco is Remco's problem in the mountains. He needs this year and a healthy next season to mature into a top step contender again. This stuff doesn't happen overnight and his injuries seem like Groundhog Day sometimes.

 

[Oldman]

Yes, it is. Even him knows this. For a reason he said he wants to close the gap to 5 minutes.

He can challenge in select circumstances but he's another season from really scaring the top two in a GT. I look forward to it.

 

[AmRacer]

Remco is Remco's problem in the mountains. He needs this year and a healthy next season to mature into a top step contender again. This stuff doesn't happen overnight and his injuries seem like Groundhog Day sometimes.

So, Mathieu is of no use then for Remco.

 

[Netserk]

Sometimes you also need the brain to race. And unfortunately maybe Remco didn’t have it today.

 

[Berniece]

Sometimes you also need the brain to race. And unfortunately maybe Remco didn’t have it today.

How so?

 

[Netserk]

How so?

To read the race and the group. His physiology is much better suited for a finale like today than Vingegaard's is, but he worked harder for zero gain.