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

[CyclistAbi]

Fat? G? Froome?

I mean Remco is lighter weight. So.

 

[AmRacer]

I mean Remco is lighter weight. So.

But he's shorter? So height / weight ratio?

 

[CyclistAbi]

But he's shorter? So height / weight ratio?

Height shaming now, c'mon guys. The point is Remco doesn't weight much more then Jonas and less then Rogla and Pogi. Believing the key here is to further drop the weight, IMHO delusions. If further progress is to come in regards to GT GC it will come from other areas, not by lowering weight.

 

[Berniece]

Interestingly Merckx was racing with around 10kg more.

That’s because there is no one like Merckx

 

[Andre]

...I'm just thinking out loud...was Lucien Van Impe the same height and weight as Remco?

 

[AmRacer]

That’s because there is no one like Merckx

That's correct, Merckx is no Pogi the 🐐

 

[Unchained]

The use of the term "fat-shaming" is as much a non-starter here as the use of "ageism" is on another thread. Neither term remotely applies in elite cycle sport.

Discussing a rider's weight is an obvious and normal part of evaluating their abilities and prospects. I like this thread, I would hate to see it turn into the inane back and forth we see on other threads. Can I ask a favor of the regular contributors and and beg that we please stop engaging with such nonsense? Pretty please??

Anyone who can or would use fat, fat shame referring to top tier professional cyclists would just be trying some style of baiting or completely uninformed.

Body composition is difficult to change, most famous makeover came about from cancer weight ( muscle) loss. Remco's current body composition has him suited for every discipline in bike racing.
From some of the elite observers, Eddy Merckx recently suggested that he feels Remco and a few others are at some superior confluence in cycling were a try at breaking hour record looks logical.
Merckx I imagine has coffee or cocktail conversations with cycling insiders who are impressed by Remco both physically and what he can do on the bike.
Is Remco inferior? No, just currently in climbing company never before seen in bike racing history. I have no doubt that Remco's climbing will improve, and realistically I expect the same from Pogacar, Jonas and dozen others. If Remco or anyone else wants to do a reduction in body mass, simple for most people, reduce input calories, maintain or increase physical output.
But who's job is being a professional endurance athlete? Tiny group.. Endurance athletes that routinely race for 1-3 weeks and consume ultra specialized zero fat, intense carbohydrate , exclusively sugar diet during exercise.. Smaller group again. Any mention or suggestions that Remco is fat is ludicrous. Is he best suited for extended uphill efforts is something he is working on..

 

[CyclistAbi]

Anyone who can or would use fat, fat shame referring to top tier professional cyclists would just be trying some style of baiting or completely uninformed.

When you say something like that you either do it for two reasons. You are an expert in this field and try to put some emphasis on authority in the sense of separating the pseudo science from science. Or, more likely, you just don't want to excuse yourself from further fat shaming.

Body composition is difficult to change, most famous makeover came about from cancer weight ( muscle) loss. Remco's current body composition has him suited for every discipline in bike racing.

And you have data on Remcos body composition?

All in all currently Remco is outperformed by both lighter and heavier cyclists, then him, when undertaking GT GC. When looking for solutions, to further improve in the future, an obvious one to address ASAP. Remco should never be riding hungry in the peloton. That is in terms of the belly and not in term of the hunger to win.

 

[theyoungest]

Anyone who can or would use fat, fat shame referring to top tier professional cyclists would just be trying some style of baiting or completely uninformed.

Body composition is difficult to change, most famous makeover came about from cancer weight ( muscle) loss. Remco's current body composition has him suited for every discipline in bike racing.
From some of the elite observers, Eddy Merckx recently suggested that he feels Remco and a few others are at some superior confluence in cycling were a try at breaking hour record looks logical.
Merckx I imagine has coffee or cocktail conversations with cycling insiders who are impressed by Remco both physically and what he can do on the bike.
Is Remco inferior? No, just currently in climbing company never before seen in bike racing history. I have no doubt that Remco's climbing will improve, and realistically I expect the same from Pogacar, Jonas and dozen others. If Remco or anyone else wants to do a reduction in body mass, simple for most people, reduce input calories, maintain or increase physical output.
But who's job is being a professional endurance athlete? Tiny group.. Endurance athletes that routinely race for 1-3 weeks and consume ultra specialized zero fat, intense carbohydrate , exclusively sugar diet during exercise.. Smaller group again. Any mention or suggestions that Remco is fat is ludicrous. Is he best suited for extended uphill efforts is something he is working on..

Evenepoel isn't fat, although he and his surroundings are quite obsessed with his weight, and certainly with communicating any change in weight he has undergone. Which suggests to me that they think that's where the problem lies. But I don't think it does, there's lots of riders who aren't particularly heavy, yet aren't great climbers. It has more to do with the type of muscles you naturally develop. Evenepoel is probably closest to Roglic in terms of their respective capacities, but I think even Roglic has a little more natural ability as a real climber. And even Roglic hasn't won the Tour... so far.

 

[Berniece]

All in all currently Remco is outperformed by both lighter and heavier cyclists, then him, when undertaking GT GC.

No he hasn’t? Pogacar weighs a bit more but not compared to his height.

 

[Unchained]

Evenepoel isn't fat, although he and his surroundings are quite obsessed with his weight, and certainly with communicating any change in weight he has undergone. Which suggests to me that they think that's where the problem lies. But I don't think it does, there's lots of riders who aren't particularly heavy, yet aren't great climbers. It has more to do with the type of muscles you naturally develop. Evenepoel is probably closest to Roglic in terms of their respective capacities, but I think even Roglic has a little more natural ability as a real climber. And even Roglic hasn't won the Tour... so far.

Spot on !!
the differences in these athletes is subtle at best. Most people who have commented in public, including Alberto Contador say that an overall reduction in body weight is possible, but problematic for these type of endurance athletes. Warning of reduction of anything significant before tour might result in flatness or loss of energy, health and power. Super intricate balance of maintaining performance and health and still making improvements in problem areas, maintaining what is fantastic. Remco made preparation for season, first few tests were sub par in his opinion, hopefully his reported " extreme and angry " training won't lead to another unforseen consequence.

 

[Unchained]

When you say something like that you either do it for two reasons. You are an expert in this field and try to put some emphasis on authority in the sense of separating the pseudo science from science. Or, more likely, you just don't want to excuse yourself from further fat shaming.



And you have data on Remcos body composition?

All in all currently Remco is outperformed by both lighter and heavier cyclists, then him, when undertaking GT GC. When looking for solutions, to further improve in the future, an obvious one to address ASAP. Remco should never be riding hungry in the peloton. That is in terms of the belly and not in term of the hunger to win.

Not sure how or who could measure Remco's hunger to win. I certainly would never, could never doubt his resolve to win. Comes off as having a burning desire. Your submission about body composition is your own. I just use non science, were I look at fellow riders on bike, videos and still photos that in my opinion have Remco as slightly larger middle and lower body measurements than someone like Jonas Vingegaard..again to repeat, just my opinion, what I think I see in limited time and data body comparison. And I guess needs repeating, no WT rider I have ever seen is fat or anything resembles overweight using civilian metrics.
Your observations about who Remco is outperforming, is a relative repeat, he is outperforming almost everyone in the.... World..except for a handful of riders on limited head to head racing days. Remco's battle is not with @99.9% of anyone who races bikes, he only needs improvement compared to half dozen riders on the planet.

 

[CyclistAbi]

No he hasn’t? Pogacar weighs a bit more but not compared to his height.

So out of top 4 GT GC riders the heaviest is currently GOAT shamed?

@Unchained

It's reasonable to expect Remco can progress some more in the future, staying at SOQ or moving to a more GT GC orientated team. Data will be interesting, seeing at what weight he was, whilst doing his career best performance.

 

[Berniece]

So out of top 4 GT GC riders the heaviest is currently GOAT shamed?

I don’t understand what you are saying

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Berniece

It's not the lightest but the heaviest, of the big four, currently achieving the best results.

Said that, what weight do some of you expect Remco to be at, doing his career best GT GC performance.

 

[Berniece]

@Berniece

It's not the lightest but the heaviest, of the big four, currently achieving the best results.

Said that, what weight do some of you expect Remco to be at, doing his career best GT GC performance.

Are you ignoring what I’m saying? Pogacar is TALLER and weighs more, but compared to his height he’s not as “bulky” as Evenepoel

 

[CyclistAbi]

Are you ignoring what I’m saying? Pogacar is TALLER and weighs more, but compared to his height he’s not as “bulky” as Evenepoel

Why would in the end that be relevant?

 

[Berniece]

Why would in the end that be relevant?

Because most people that are bigger in height are able to push more watts. It's a combination of weight, height, power that makes you a great GT rider. Pogacar is able to push more watts compared to Evenepoel, but weighs only slightly more. Ganna is able to push much more watts than Evenepoel but weighs too much to overcome that on a mountain.

 

[jmdirt]

Not sure how or who could measure Remco's hunger to win. I certainly would never, could never doubt his resolve to win. Comes off as having a burning desire. Your submission about body composition is your own. I just use non science, were I look at fellow riders on bike, videos and still photos that in my opinion have Remco as slightly larger middle and lower body measurements than someone like Jonas Vingegaard..again to repeat, just my opinion, what I think I see in limited time and data body comparison. And I guess needs repeating, no WT rider I have ever seen is fat or anything resembles overweight using civilian metrics.
Your observations about who Remco is outperforming, is a relative repeat, he is outperforming almost everyone in the.... World..except for a handful of riders on limited head to head racing days. Remco's battle is not with @99.9% of anyone who races bikes, he only needs improvement compared to half dozen riders on the planet.

I agree, there is no way to measure desire via video. Several years ago I wondered about his willingness to "break on through to the other side", but the way he time trials, I know for sure that he can do it.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Berniece

Nah, i don't see it like that. I crunched in the numbers again and in between top 4 i don't see any meaningful differences in terms of height and weight ratios and similar. They are slight variants involved but nothing that would signal that Remco is an outlier and not one of the even stevens.

All in all constant talk about 1 kilo more or less, that IMHO is vastly exaggerated. Said that, what weight is target weight set by fandom? If Remco ever tries it out, too see if there was some valid ground for such suggestions in previous years, or not!