But if we're talking Rog 2019-2024, then sure he's a better climber than Evenepoel simply because he was way more consistent at it (& had better GC results in stage races) and doesn't need that massive peak that Evenepoel seems to require. I mean that's my takeaway regarding Remco Evenepoel, i.e. his 2024 TdF was strong in terms of climbing (relative to everyone not called Pog or Vinge) but the rest of the year? Nah. Just my impression but he seems to be getting worse outside his peak for whatever reason.
Catalunya 2023 (again, not peak Evenepoel but still very, very strong) seems like a long time ago. Back then he could totally hold his own and if that Evenepoel was in this Dauphiné, he'd have been far closer to the two in front (& on the podium).
It's very hard to argue against Roglic being a more consistent climber, lol. Evenepoel simply has a high ceiling, which was my point, but he so rarely hits it because of injuries/rehab, crashes (during the race), sickness (covid, pollen, whatever) and lastly and most frequently, his weight.
As to your impression of it getting worse... i don't know. I remember back in his first season Lefevere already came out with a statement that for some reason drew a lot of heat, that Remco was disappointed with his results and Lefevere said that wasn't a surprise when weighing 4kg over his ideal race weight. This was in spring 2019 i believe, somewhere around his first UAE Tour where he got dropped or when he did Tour of Turkey and wasn't able to ride away on Kartepe from a best rotating chase group in the history of cycling, got caught and finished 4th. Then 2020 came along, he was very lean, kicked Landa, Kuss, Carapaz, Yates'... asses on Picon Blanco. The crash, the comeback, the retarted idea that his '21 Giro didn't go as planned due his weight being too low (an idea which set him back 3 years before they started to realise that had nothing to do with it). With 2022 coming around he started the season looking like Eric Cartman, getting lapped in Tirreno. Gradually slimmed down to somewhere around his 2020 weight, before slamming everybody uphill in San Sebastian and dominating the Vuelta until... his crash.
Still they did not realise that his weight was a big factor, so next year he started prepping for the Giro again, looking like Eric Cartman once more. In Catalunya he was again far from lean when he was rivaling Roglic, and i am not convinced that rendition of Evenepoel would have finished much closer this weekend. Then the Vuelta was a back up plan, he went there again with the misguided idea that he needed to be at "TT weight" for the WCC TT, so again in the Vuelta he completely failed in the mountains.
He keeps winning TT's even the rare times he is slim, and i'm sure by the time he retires someone at Quickstep will have figured it out, that he will win TT's regardless of his weight, but he will not win in the mountains regardless of his weight.
Speaking of Catalunya 2024, Roglic came back from shoulder surgery, won Tirreno Adriatics with hairy legs, then beat Remco in Catalunya, then won the Giro, then should have won the Vuelta if not for team dynamics. To me, that says high floor, high (but not highest) ceiling. Remco that year had 0 GC results all year. Covid got in the way for sure, but he’s a natural TT and classic guy; Roglic is a natural GC guy. Which is somewhat to say Roglic is more of a natural climber than Remco. It’s honestly shocking that Remco can reach the heights he can based on his year round form. He’s more like a much better Wiggins type IMO.
Since his junior years i have been comparing him to the likes of Wiggins, Cancellara, Indurain... with the major difference that he is pocket sized, and that when he would manage his weight, he would be flying uphill. And he has proven that he can fly up hill when he manages his weight. But for some reason at QuickStep they are still not making that connection. Or at least they have needed 6 years to start connecting the dots.
And the discussion was about Catalunya '23. Where again, he was far too heavy. The idea was that he should be heavier for the Giro, than for the Vuelta he had just won while skinny, because the Giro didn't have these short steep climbs like the Vuelta
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram