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

[CyclistAbi]

I didn't watch the race still UAE rider won and IMHO Remco will be angry. That surely couldn't be the plan.

Hopefully it will serve as that extra bit of motivation needed, to perform good at the Tour.

 

[Red Rick]

Pretty sure Pogacar managed to lose the Slolvenian nats RR in 2021 dropping a few mintues in the process. Got 5th behind Mohoric, Polanc, Mezgec and Tratnik, essentially getting 5th in a race with 6 WT participants (Roglic didn't race, only Domen Novak finished below him).

Belgian nats will always have a lot of RNG - there is literally nothing to worry about based on not winning this.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Red Rick

It's not a big deal in regards to the Tour, but i am sure that the plan was to win.

 

[Peyroteo94]

It was not optimal prep to ride here and it ended up being harder than expected. He crashed. Had to pull out a big effort in the end.

I dont understand why he would prioritize it this time if he is serious about challenging Pog and Vinge. It doesnt fill me with confidence.

It feels a bit like the NC titles would have been something nice to walk away with when you sum up the season and valuing that higher, rather than being all in it for the Tour.

Maybe he feels things needs to happen to the others and know it will be hard otherwise. Then fair enough. His participation here wont matter if that is how he feels.

What I already mentioned here before this race. He knows he can't be better than third in the Tour so he raced the Nationals to boost his confidence in his home country before the beating he will get in the Tour.
I think his main goal (and realistic) should be the yellow jersey after the TT and finish third in Paris.

 

[CyclistAbi]

As for why Remco raced in NC, likely because he is obliged to, by law? He hence didn't want to be "sick" for a day, unneeded drama, and likely the idea is already to play nice and to move up in Worlds RR selection roster.

And obviously he wanted to win it too.

 

[Berniece]

As for why Remco raced in NC, likely because he is obliged to, by law? He hence didn't want to be "sick" for a day, unneeded drama, and likely the idea is already to play nice and to move up in Worlds RR selection roster.

And obviously he wanted to win it too.

Not just that, I’ve said it 3 times now already but people deliberately ignore it. He wanted to go hard and deep during those races as a training. Something you can’t replicate in training and only during racing. He and the team felt he needed that.

 

[Berflamand]

I think he also just gets a lot of motivation from Championships and the medals/jerseys they award. He likes to collect them and I guess it strokes his ego when he can ride around for a year in a special jersey which distincts him from the rest (on top of his golden Olympian accents). Yesterday he was legitimately pissed he missed out on the Belgian Champs jersey.

Regarding his level, I'm not too concerned. Basically every rider (including the winner himself, Wellens) said after the race that Remco was clearly the strongest and very impressive. He started attacking from 180+km out and basically never stopped (apart from his small crash and subsequent chase to regain contact with the peloton).

If it wasn't for a very impressive Wellens, he probably would have won quite easily in the end. I think he did underestimate Wellens a little because he seemed quite surprised/impressed after the race that he couldn't close the gap to Wellens.

 

[jmdirt]

Not just that, I’ve said it 3 times now already but people deliberately ignore it. He wanted to go hard and deep during those races as a training. Something you can’t replicate in training and only during racing. He and the team felt he needed that.

This^, plus the dynamic/volatile rhythm of racing.

 

[Extinction]

I think he also just gets a lot of motivation from Championships and the medals/jerseys they award. He likes to collect them and I guess it strokes his ego when he can ride around for a year in a special jersey which distincts him from the rest (on top of his golden Olympian accents). Yesterday he was legitimately pissed he missed out on the Belgian Champs jersey.

Regarding his level, I'm not too concerned. Basically every rider (including the winner himself, Wellens) said after the race that Remco was clearly the strongest and very impressive. He started attacking from 180+km out and basically never stopped (apart from his small crash and subsequent chase to regain contact with the peloton).

If it wasn't for a very impressive Wellens, he probably would have won quite easily in the end. I think he did underestimate Wellens a little because he seemed quite surprised/impressed after the race that he couldn't close the gap to Wellens.

Right, but with a domestique Wellens that strong, it only shows how strong UAE will be in support of Pogacar at the Tour. Remco must have been vexed and allarmed at the moment Wellens went he didn't have enough to immediately chase down one of Pog's domestiques. He, Remco, wanted to make the race hard and wanted to win it. So to see how strong Wellens was must be of some concern for the overall strength of UAE and thus the economy of the Tour.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Right, but with a domestique Wellens that strong, it only shows how strong UAE will be in support of Pogacar at the Tour. Remco must have been vexed and allarmed at the moment Wellens went he didn't have enough to immediately chase down one of Pog's domestiques. He, Remco, wanted to make the race hard and wanted to win it. So to see how strong Wellens was must be of some concern for the overall strength of UAE and thus the economy of the Tour.

Maybe it's sandbagging by UAE and Wellens will be the true leader at the Tour.
Not that it makes it easier for Remco: Pogi will be a pretty solid domestique, who can drop some guys!

 

[Berniece]

He, Remco, wanted to make the race hard and wanted to win it. So to see how strong Wellens was must be of some concern for the overall strength of UAE and thus the economy of the Tour.

Sure, but Remco was throwing with his energy, put in more than Wellens. And the strength of UAE doesn't matter, it'll go like last year. High pace, and then Pogacar attacks, try to follow or set your own pace. The rest of UAE doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Berflamand]

Right, but with a domestique Wellens that strong, it only shows how strong UAE will be in support of Pogacar at the Tour. Remco must have been vexed and allarmed at the moment Wellens went he didn't have enough to immediately chase down one of Pog's domestiques. He, Remco, wanted to make the race hard and wanted to win it. So to see how strong Wellens was must be of some concern for the overall strength of UAE and thus the economy of the Tour.

Yes and no.

The first gap Wellens got (on Remco) was because of tactical reasons when Remco chose (wrongly in hindsight) to not react immediately. But afterwards Wellens did prove to be very strong by only gaining time on the chasers.

I don't think Remco has any illusions about the strength of Pogacar and his UAE team. Wellens already showed a very high level in the Dauphiné.

 

[Berniece]

The first gap Wellens got (on Remco) was because of tactical reasons when Remco chose (wrongly in hindsight) to not react immediately. But afterwards Wellens did prove to be very strong by only gaining time on the chasers.

Basically how he lost Paris-Nice in 2024

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Basically how he lost Paris-Nice in 2024

He lost PN due to tactical errors. He could have started to chase all out at any time, but he didn't. Here it was different. He had already put in numerous attacks, he already wasted energy with that crash and coming back. Wellens made 1 attack, while Evenepoel had made 5 to 10 before. The problem was that the course was not quite selective enough and that someone like Philipsen is ultimately quick enough on short efforts to keep closing the gap and small enough to get decent draft behind Evenepoel. Often it was Philipsen who shut down Evenepoel because he assumed that was going to be his meal ticket.

It's simply not possible to react to every attack, especially when you are the one that has wasted by far the most energy. Paris Nice was an order of magnitude more dimwitted than this.

Wellens was very strong but he had saved his legs for that one attack. Also, iirc, Evenepoel recently came back from altitude, and then missing some punch can be normal the first few weeks.

 

[Andre]

He lost PN due to tactical errors. He could have started to chase all out at any time, but he didn't. Here it was different. He had already put in numerous attacks, he already wasted energy with that crash and coming back. Wellens made 1 attack, while Evenepoel had made 5 to 10 before. The problem was that the course was not quite selective enough and that someone like Philipsen is ultimately quick enough on short efforts to keep closing the gap and small enough to get decent draft behind Evenepoel. Often it was Philipsen who shut down Evenepoel because he assumed that was going to be his meal ticket.

It's simply not possible to react to every attack, especially when you are the one that has wasted by far the most energy. Paris Nice was an order of magnitude more dimwitted than this.

Wellens was very strong but he had saved his legs for that one attack. Also, iirc, Evenepoel recently came back from altitude, and then missing some punch can be normal the first few weeks.

very well said; good analysis

 

[AmRacer]

Should he have stayed at altitude or was it a wise decision racing both Nationals?

 

[Sciatic]

Right, but with a domestique Wellens that strong, it only shows how strong UAE will be in support of Pogacar at the Tour. Remco must have been vexed and allarmed at the moment Wellens went he didn't have enough to immediately chase down one of Pog's domestiques. He, Remco, wanted to make the race hard and wanted to win it. So to see how strong Wellens was must be of some concern for the overall strength of UAE and thus the economy of the Tour.

I can’t fathom why you’re trying to make so much of this? He didn’t try to follow Wellens when he went; he wasn’t going to chase every attacker. You want to proclaim Remco isn’t very strong/psychologically capable, etc—just wait a couple of weeks.

 

[red_flanders]

Right, but with a domestique Wellens that strong, it only shows how strong UAE will be in support of Pogacar at the Tour. Remco must have been vexed and allarmed at the moment Wellens went he didn't have enough to immediately chase down one of Pog's domestiques. He, Remco, wanted to make the race hard and wanted to win it. So to see how strong Wellens was must be of some concern for the overall strength of UAE and thus the economy of the Tour.

I doubt there's any additional concern. It's not like the strength of UAE is a surprise. And Wellens is a good 1 day racer on his day.

 

[Stablo]

This is why I have a love hate relationship with Remco. Kid has such a big personality off the road, almost a bad guy (he is way better though), a lot of charisma and guts on the bike but some of his fans are tough to listen or read (sometimes).

This is a bit deep coming from a pog fan. It makes liking the guy even a bit extremely difficult. The tiktok fanatism all around social media(and forum racing threads) after every alien performance is just something else.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Can we all have a honest group hug, before the Tour start?

 

[tourmabet]

I couldn't watch the race. Was Jasper's attitude that nasty towards Remco?

 

[Unchained]

Can we all have a honest group hug, before the Tour start?

Before, during or after the group hug, as Red Flanders points out, Wellens is a very capable one day racer, with wide variety of skills and experience.
The mind space that UAE occupies currently is really great, just in front of the Tour.
Carapaz craps out, Wout wobbling with illness, UAE getting national championship and goes into TDF with riders saying that they are totally dedicated to Pogacar's performance. Ayuso adding to consistent message on team goals.

Nationals a minor risk to Remco loss of physical Tour training for interrupted schedule to attend nats, gets defeated again.. So if dominating display was part of mental build up for Remco, forget about Pogacar, gotta be able to beat a rider like Wellens first. There's a wound there even if it's not visible.

 

[KoopaCycling]

As strong as Wellens was, the race was determined by Philipsen decision to completely shadow Remco. (That and the parcours being mostly flat). It influenced group dynamics. Hence why remco and Phillipsen were in the second part of the split front group when Wellens went. Remco needed to first close the gap to the first part of the split group, then go after wellens all the while trying to shake Phillipsen. It ultimately proved to much. In part cause Phiillipsen was strong enough to hold on to Evenepoel wheel, yet not smart enough to not realise the gap had become so big that he needed to ride with Remco. Instead he sat on Remco's wheel until their team manager finally managed to get next to Phillipsen and talk some smarts into Jasper who completely failed to realise his tactics of eating Remco's plate had just cost him any chance of winning the race cause he failed to switch gears in time.

 

[AmRacer]

As strong as Wellens was, the race was determined by Philipsen decision to completely shadow Remco. (That and the parcours being mostly flat). It influenced group dynamics. Hence why remco and Phillipsen were in the second part of the split front group when Wellens went. Remco needed to first close the gap to the first part of the split group, then go after wellens all the while trying to shake Phillipsen. It ultimately proved to much. In part cause Phiillipsen was strong enough to hold on to Evenepoel wheel, yet not smart enough to not realise the gap had become so big that he needed to ride with Remco. Instead he sat on Remco's wheel until their team manager finally managed to get next to Phillipsen and talk some smarts into Jasper who completely failed to realise his tactics of eating Remco's plate had just cost him any chance of winning the race cause he failed to switch gears in time.

But Remco dropped Philipsen at the end, so Philipsen would lose anyhow. Sitting at Remco's wheel was the best he could do.

 

[KoopaCycling]

But Remco dropped Philipsen at the end, so Philipsen would lose anyhow. Sitting at Remco's wheel was the best he could do.

I disagree for a number of reasons. In any case Wellens won and Remco got 2nd. Up next is the Tour.