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

[Berflamand]

You can see some visma riders on the ranking too, but they clearly just paces themselves since Jorgenson was only a minute faster than WVA

Yeah I'm relatively positive that riders like Jorgenson and Kuss should be able to climb faster than Jonas Rickaert, who is fourth on the KOM ranking.

 

[red_flanders]

He just posted his training ride from last sunday when he reconned the Loze.

204km, 4800 altitude meters, 31km/h average and the KOM on the 'Loze through Courchevel' segment. Although I'm not sure what the value of the KOM is (if there is ever any value to KOM's) as it seems to be a segment with not that much action yet.

Interesting. Heck of a ride. Curious the delay in uploading...or making public. Wonder what's behind that.

 

[jmdirt]

Losing or adding 2kg of fat is NOT a detail

What?

 

[AmRacer]

A skinny man of 2m tall will be able to output significantly more power than a man of 1.5m tall who has the same fat percentage. Somewhere in between lies the perfect balance between power, weight and height. In the context of climbing you could assume the smaller the better, but both the tiny man and the taller man also have to carry the weight of the bike up the mountain, which in both cases has a minimum weight requirement. So if the tiny man weighs 45kg, for which his power output would be ideal, then you have to add to that another 10kg of bike, clothes, shoes, etc on top of his own weight, and suddenly his power/weight ratio isn't that great anymore. Percentage wise, this is less of an issue for the tall man who may weigh 65kg, as the added weight disturbs his power/weight ratio less. But when a taller guy can get his weight down to the weight of the smaller guy assuming both are still healthy, he will always be able to output more power.

All these guys are elite athletes. In order to improve, they are looking for details to give them just that bit of an extra push. Losing or adding 2kg of fat is NOT a detail. I assume next time you take your bike on a cycling vacation to France, you time your ascent of the Mont Ventoux or similar. First time you make sure you are carrying 2 liters of water on your back. Then two days later you go back, and do the same but this time without the 2 liters of water. Let us know how it went and how insignificant the extra weight was.

So, Pogi and Jonas have the optimal height/weight/bmi...configuration

 

[jmdirt]

So, Pogi and Jonas have the optimal height/weight/bmi...configuration

AHHHH, there has been so much physiological cliché bouncing around this poor kid's thread and now you had to add the BMI icing!

 

[Oldman]

What?

Kinda thought the same thing. Seems like we've been to the bottom of this Rabbit Hole and saw Alice headed back up.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

What?

What what? Abi has been arguing that one or two kg more or less doesn't make much of a difference.

 

[Extinction]

Fat shame! Utterly ridiculous. They are all trim. The point, as ever, is weight to power ratio. Who at the best weight can carry it through with devastation matters. Body type comes into play, inevitabily, then, talent, crashes, mechanicals, race noos determines. Ad astra.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Please share your calculations.

I mean the most basic one is calculating BMI and even here i don't see it.

A skinny man of 2m tall will be able to output significantly more power than a man of 1.5m tall who has the same fat percentage. Somewhere in between lies the perfect balance between power, weight and height. In the context of climbing you could assume the smaller the better, but both the tiny man and the taller man also have to carry the weight of the bike up the mountain, which in both cases has a minimum weight requirement. So if the tiny man weighs 45kg, for which his power output would be ideal, then you have to add to that another 10kg of bike, clothes, shoes, etc on top of his own weight, and suddenly his power/weight ratio isn't that great anymore. Percentage wise, this is less of an issue for the tall man who may weigh 65kg, as the added weight disturbs his power/weight ratio less. But when a taller guy can get his weight down to the weight of the smaller guy assuming both are still healthy, he will always be able to output more power.

All these guys are elite athletes. In order to improve, they are looking for details to give them just that bit of an extra push. Losing or adding 2kg of fat is NOT a detail. I assume next time you take your bike on a cycling vacation to France, you time your ascent of the Mont Ventoux or similar. First time you make sure you are carrying 2 liters of water on your back. Then two days later you go back, and do the same but this time without the 2 liters of water. Let us know how it went and how insignificant the extra weight was.

Yeah, i don't know about that. On top of that and by not widening the debate, lets keep the focus on big 4. There is some verity involved but all in all they are IMHO too close in metrics such as height and weight, to search for an outlier in this regard. As what started this debate was Remco is apparently too heavy and need to lose weight. But OK a number of 2 kilos was thrown around. I assume that not 2 kilos of fat as i doubt it's fat that wins Remco TTs. Anyway around 60 kilo then, fine. Lets see if Remco ever starts a GT at around 60 kilos and on how the numbers and results will look like.

What what? Abi has been arguing that one or two kg more or less doesn't make much of a difference.

In between this four i feel a kilo or two more or less going into a GT doesn't make any significant difference, yes.

@CyclistAbi @Berniece @Logic-is-your-friend

Telling Remco to slim down may be inelegant (fat shaming) but I know a better solution: he should simply grow taller. There are some medieval torture devices that should help him achieve his perfect height before the Tour...

What have we done, when it comes to fat shaming, one can at least lose weight, if the goal is to indulge the mob, when it comes to height, not much one can do indeed. Unless i guess winning the Tour, then all the tall guys immediately fall through, as it's not the size that matters, but technique.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1937876106625134633

View: https://x.com/flobikes/status/1937876106625134633

 

[CyclistAbi]

Specialized releases superlight, super expensive S-Works shoes, designed for Remco Evenepoel to wear at the Tour de France

The S-Works Torch Remco shoes are the brand's lightest and most expensive yet

www.cyclingnews.com

Remco shoes lost weight.

 

[Lequack]

Now he just needs shorter cranks and he's set.

 

[Unchained]

Fat shame! Utterly ridiculous. They are all trim. The point, as ever, is weight to power ratio. Who at the best weight can carry it through with devastation matters. Body type comes into play, inevitabily, then, talent, crashes, mechanicals, race noos determines. Ad astra.

It's not riders that have 700-1000+watt pulse are defining. .. pluse spurts don't do it consistently on climbs or during the crunch so what but they can.. Remco has it..
And overall peloton can't or doesn't...many many riders could jump him ,but they dont..
Fear of blowing
.. Remco is one of my favorites, he can do no wrong. His style and frustration about not winning make me watch and cheer for him..If it turns out that 3 weeks isn't his thing.. Still love the little Belgian lawn jockey..always screaming for him to win!!!
If genetic destiny is Pog, cool always routing for Belgian mini me

 

[Unchained]

Can't make me change.. I am trying so, so,so hard .. Deutschland ober alllllles!!

 

[Unchained]

At some point winning or losing is not significant.. It's trying, fighting.. Same reward in the end.. Come on Cofidis!! Give me something Picnic!!!

 

[Unchained]

If only the best funded, talent pools are your thing.. For me it's some skinny Mexican longshot ..or an American nobody riding for Belgian team.. Or Ricky..Tellllo ,kid climbing like a scared deer ..giving us hope!!

 

[red_flanders]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1937876106625134633

View: https://x.com/flobikes/status/1937876106625134633

No.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Specialized releases superlight, super expensive S-Works shoes, designed for Remco Evenepoel to wear at the Tour de France

The S-Works Torch Remco shoes are the brand's lightest and most expensive yet

www.cyclingnews.com

Remco shoes lost weight.

His old ones were too fat. Made of hamburgers and fries.

But OK a number of 2 kilos was thrown around. I assume that not 2 kilos of fat as i doubt it's fat that wins Remco TTs. Anyway around 60 kilo then, fine. Lets see if Remco ever starts a GT at around 60 kilos and on how the numbers and results will look like.

All info we have about his weight during the '22 Vuelta and '24 TDF (his best climbing performances) points to him weighing around 62kg or slightly below that, during those GT's. That is roughly 4kg more than Vingegaard (who is even slightly taller) when he won both his TDF's. For arguments sake, let's assume Evenepoel would be able to lose 4kgs without losing power (i doubt he can and will, but just as a reference) he would then climb 2 minutes faster per 30 minutes compared to last year. That's how insignificant the weight difference is.

During the '21 Giro, he weighed around 60kg. But since he faded away during the second part of that Giro, the team has always assumed that was because he was too skinny, and never took into account the fact that it was just too soon after his injury and his preparation had been cut far too short. I don't know whether he would perform optimally (or more optimal) at 60kg compared to 62, but at least it did show that he is capable of dropping so low in weight, without getting sick.

 

[houtdffan]

His old ones were too fat. Made of hamburgers and fries.


All info we have about his weight during the '22 Vuelta and '24 TDF (his best climbing performances) points to him weighing around 62kg or slightly below that, during those GT's. That is roughly 4kg more than Vingegaard (who is even slightly taller) when he won both his TDF's. For arguments sake, let's assume Evenepoel would be able to lose 4kgs without losing power (i doubt he can and will, but just as a reference) he would then climb 2 minutes faster per 30 minutes compared to last year. That's how insignificant the weight difference is.

During the '21 Giro, he weighed around 60kg. But since he faded away during the second part of that Giro, the team has always assumed that was because he was too skinny, and never took into account the fact that it was just too soon after his injury and his preparation had been cut far too short. I don't know whether he would perform optimally (or more optimal) at 60kg compared to 62, but at least it did show that he is capable of dropping so low in weight, without getting sick.

wasn't even that it was too soon. He failed in the 2021 giro because he WASTED so much energy getting dropped due to his absolutely sucktacular bike handling. Getting dropped on the DOWNHILL of the first climb of Zoncolon, needing to chase for 45 minutes...

That was pathetic!

Don't get me started about his positioning and bike handling on the gravel stage

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

wasn't even that it was too soon. He failed in the 2021 giro because he WASTED so much energy getting dropped due to his absolutely sucktacular bike handling. Getting dropped on the DOWNHILL of the first climb of Zoncolon, needing to chase for 45 minutes...

That was pathetic!

Don't get me started about his positioning and bike handling on the gravel stage

Opening TT showed he was not where he needed to be. I agree with your points, but he was also clearly fading in week 2.

 

[Berniece]

I mean the most basic one is calculating BMI and even here i don't see it.

You don't see a difference between a rider like Vingegaard being 1m75 and 58kg, and someone like Evenepoel at 1m71 and 64kg. Since you don't think he needs to lose more weight, his normal weight is 64-65kg during the season when not preparing for a GT. That's 12% more weight he has to carry up a mountain compared to Vingegaard.