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

[Valv.Piti]

The same GT Kelly and Valverde won, two riders who struggled in the Giro and Tour except for one exceptional year. Valverde finished on the podium in the Tour, but it was an exceptional year.

I think that's the case with Remco. He could have a good Tour, like last year, and he could even win the Giro some year, but I think he'll have more bad years than good in those GT. The level in the Tour is higher.

The Vuelta is different; the mountain stages are generally less hard, and that's evident in the winners' list. There are several riders who weren't the best in GT but still managed to win the Vuelta.

To be fair to Valverde, he crashed out in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 he won against Lance on Courchevel and looked fine for a podium. 2006 he was actually probably the biggest favorite after Basso, Ullrich and Vino didn't race, crashed again. 2007 he was off halfway through the race for some reason. 2008 he crashed right before Hautacam and shipped lots of time and looked good in the Alps. Then Tour-suspension in 2009 and real suspension 10 and 11, comeback 12 and looked good for a podium until QS did him dirty in the crosswinds in 2013. 2014 should have podiummed, very disappointing performance. 2015 podium. 2016 did the Giro, but 2017 was a real shot against a crappy field, but crashed again in his best season to date.

What Im trying to say his Valverde's Tour palmarés doesn't really do him justice at all, even though it wasn't the best race for him, that I admit.

Remco was doing incredibly well last year to finish 3rd racing against Jonas and Pog who were putting up absolutely insane numbers. Some even thought 2nd was possible. A better route, a few years without a problem and then who knows. But lots of things have happened to Remco which has made him underperform in several GTs for different reasons, but when he's on (Vuelta 22 and Tour 24), he is almost as good as anybody. Well, he is as good as anybody bar Jonas and Pog doing numbers out of this world.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Course is a bit harder this year. Quite a lot of altitude meters. In perfect shape he would win it easily, but when you’re not sure and Pogacar actually wants to win it…

In the fantasy world, he always win easily. In reality, he is suffering to compete with the big boys

 

[Charlyghoul]

IMO, what he showed last year would be enough in most eras. I think we cannot overstate just how good Tadej and Jonas are.

True but you can say the same of Merckx and Hinault with Zoetemelk of course. I still would say Zoetemelk was a better gt rider and climber and he only won one when Hinault had to abandon, but then Remco can take time in tt’s , well flatter ones he can.
But Remco is far away from someone like Nibali who also only won one party due to good fortune of the favourites dropping out but also good bike handling, much better climber, great strategist etc.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Bakelants is such a bad pundit

 

[kingjr]

True but you can say the same of Merckx and Hinault with Zoetemelk of course. I still would say Zoetemelk was a better gt rider and climber and he only won one when Hinault had to abandon, but then Remco can take time in tt’s , well flatter ones he can.
But Remco is far away from someone like Nibali who also only won one party due to good fortune of the favourites dropping out but also good bike handling, much better climber, great strategist etc.

He also lost LBL to Iglinskiy and the Vuelta to a 41-year-old. He was a lesser climber than Froome, who would have even less a chance of winning the Tour in this era than Evenepoel. He also lost the Olympics due to a bike handling error.

 

[Red Rick]

He also lost LBL to Iglinskiy and the Vuelta to a 41-year-old. He was a lesser climber than Froome, who would have even less a chance of winning the Tour in this era than Evenepoel. He also lost the Olympics due to a bike handling error.

He lost the Olympics, broke his collarbone, and said: "My risk, my mistake", which is a world apart from the mentality that where Evenepoel has a mental breakdown today because the most predictable result of terrible preperation happens.

Riders are a product of their era. It's fairly ludicrous to judge them as anything else. Like why didn't Roglic just push his 2024 Vuelta numbers when he debuted the Tour in 2017 is he just that stupid?

 

[kingjr]

He lost the Olympics, broke his collarbone, and said: "My risk, my mistake", which is a world apart from the mentality that where Evenepoel has a mental breakdown today because the most predictable result of terrible preperation happens.

Who was saying anything about Nibali's mentality?

 

[Charlyghoul]

He also lost LBL to Iglinskiy and the Vuelta to a 41-year-old. He was a lesser climber than Froome, who would have even less a chance of winning the Tour in this era than Evenepoel. He also lost the Olympics due to a bike handling error.

He was a lesser climber than Froome but he wasn’t left for dust like Remco against Pogscar and Vingegaard.
Nibalis bike handling was good enough that he pushed the favourites to crash in the dodgy opening week and made the most of what he had. He lost one big race due to his crash but he also won several due to being one of the best bike handlers in the peloton.
This is like saying Remco is a terrible time trialler because of yesterday…
Has Remco got anything in his repertoire to push pog and Vingegaard? Besides slightly better time trialling he doesn’t have anything he can use against those guys.
Have to disagree on Froome having a lesser chance than Remco in this era, I think he’d be somewhere on Vingegaard level vs pog but you can’t really say I suppose. He was pretty dominant for a long time in the tour.

 

[peterfin]

He was a lesser climber than Froome but he wasn’t left for dust like Remco against Pogscar and Vingegaard.
Nibalis bike handling was good enough that he pushed the favourites to crash in the dodgy opening week and made the most of what he had. He lost one big race due to his crash but he also won several due to being one of the best bike handlers in the peloton.
This is like saying Remco is a terrible time trialler because of yesterday…
Has Remco got anything in his repertoire to push pog and Vingegaard? Besides slightly better time trialling he doesn’t have anything he can use against those guys.
Have to disagree on Froome having a lesser chance than Remco in this era, I think he’d be somewhere on Vingegaard level vs pog but you can’t really say I suppose. He was pretty dominant for a long time in the tour.

A better team can increase his repertoire. Just look at how Pog and Vingegaard increased their repertoire by being in a team that has the tools to do so. Or better: look at the difference between the average rider in those teams versus their performance prior.

 

[Charlyghoul]

A better team can increase his repertoire. Just look at how Pog and Vingegaard increased their repertoire by being in a team that has the tools to do so. Or better: look at the difference between the average rider in those teams versus their performance prior.

Good point, suppose also he could still do an Indurain and start winning the tour in his late twenties.
I just doubt his climbing in the high mountains, he can’t beat pog or Vingegaard there and would have to rely on them not racing or crashing out. Then you have guys like Lipowitz who are coming through and strong in the mountains.
He can win a tour I just don’t think he will.

 

[Cycling111]

He's completely unlike Sean Kelly in almost every respect.

Even so, Kelly was more dominant in one-week races like Paris-Nice.

Remco also struggles to win those races and in those mountain stages.

 

[Red Rick]

If you're looking for straight parallels between era's, Roglic and Froome couldn't be more obvious. Vingegaard and Pogacar's dominance over the rest of the field is so much bigger than Froome's ever was it's not even funny

 

[peterfin]

Good point, suppose also he could still do an Indurain and start winning the tour in his late twenties.
I just doubt his climbing in the high mountains, he can’t beat pog or Vingegaard there and would have to rely on them not racing or crashing out. Then you have guys like Lipowitz who are coming through and strong in the mountains.
He can win a tour I just don’t think he will.

At least he can come much closer to them and his performance last year was better than Lipowitz current performance so I still see Evenepoel as a better climber. Anyway, if he keeps a win of the TdF on his bucketlist he needs to change team and has a lot of work to do (and probably needs some luck as well).

 

[Unchained]

Are you guys sure it wasn't because he cut his hair? That's when all the trouble started.

You could have a point the haircut was typical for entry into the military or prison? Does anyone know where Remco is?

 

[kingjr]

He was a lesser climber than Froome but he wasn’t left for dust like Remco against Pogscar and Vingegaard.
Nibalis bike handling was good enough that he pushed the favourites to crash in the dodgy opening week and made the most of what he had. He lost one big race due to his crash but he also won several due to being one of the best bike handlers in the peloton.
This is like saying Remco is a terrible time trialler because of yesterday…
Has Remco got anything in his repertoire to push pog and Vingegaard? Besides slightly better time trialling he doesn’t have anything he can use against those guys.
Have to disagree on Froome having a lesser chance than Remco in this era, I think he’d be somewhere on Vingegaard level vs pog but you can’t really say I suppose. He was pretty dominant for a long time in the tour.

As the 1st bolded part: That is not what happened.

Don't get me wrong, Nibali was a good rider, but he has a very… devoted following, who are prone to swooning over his abilities, making them seem larger than they were.

As to the 2nd: Based on what?

 

[CyclistAbi]

Looks like Quickstep is happy they brought Merlier.

Yep, Remco was secondary objective anyway, they are just not a GT GC orientated team. So, either they part ways agreeing or Remco to stay till the end of his contract and after to move elsewhere in search of better opportunities. In this case better to invest in expanding the family in the 2026 season. Breaching contract without an agreement, that is not something i would advise, years of court battles are not worth it. At RBH IMHO Remco would have a good mentor if Rogla decides to stay, classics to remain a strong focus. At Ineos the GC expectations would be high from the get-go and who knows if that is a good thing for Remco ATM. So there is that.

 

[houtdffan]

Good point, suppose also he could still do an Indurain and start winning the tour in his late twenties.
I just doubt his climbing in the high mountains, he can’t beat pog or Vingegaard there and would have to rely on them not racing or crashing out. Then you have guys like Lipowitz who are coming through and strong in the mountains.
He can win a tour I just don’t think he will.

He needs a 90s route. Lipowitz would get mauled in the TTs those years

 

[CyclistAbi]

At that press conference, with Remco and Tim, on where they where upbeat about Remco being a lead out for Tim, chasing down Mathieu if i remember correctly, jokingly apologising for it, anyway, at that point i knew they don't know what they are doing in regards to GC.

 

[Oldman]

In the fantasy world, he always win easily. In reality, he is suffering to compete with the big boys

IMO he is one of the Bigs for races he is suited. This year he was not suited for the Tour and only the most ardent believers thought it possible. He wasn't optimally prepared for most races and he now needs to take charge of how those things happen.

 

[houtdffan]

This races almost reminds me of TDS 2023 after he came back from Covid

Did he really have "allergies" at the Dauphine or was he actually sick? Something like Covid would explain why he had to rest after the Dauphine

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

IMO he is one of the Bigs for races he is suited. This year he was not suited for the Tour and only the most ardent believers thought it possible. He wasn't optimally prepared for most races and he now needs to take charge of how those things happen.

How are the ardent believers in Jorgenson's podium doing?

But sure, he got dropped at Soulor before 80 other guys because this Tour doesn't suit him. Oh. My. *******. God.

 

[Berniece]

In the fantasy world, he always win easily. In reality, he is suffering to compete with the big boys

In ITT? Do you even take yourself seriously?

 

[Oldman]

How are the ardent believers in Jorgenson's podium doing?

But sure, he got dropped at Soulor before 80 other guys because this Tour doesn't suit him. Oh. My. *******. God.

They'd be sorry he got overused and clearly unwell from it. Last we checked he's still racing tomorrow in continued support of his teammate. Hopefully he's learned, too.

 

[Cycling111]

He needs a 90s route. Lipowitz would get mauled in the TTs those years

In the 90s there were 250-kilometer mountain stages.

Indurain holds the record for the La Plange climb, and on Hautacam, he's only 14 seconds behind Pogacar's time. He won because he also climbed incredibly with his corpulence.

Remco would lose time on those mountain stages.

 

[Ancalagon]

He needs a 90s route. Lipowitz would get mauled in the TTs those years

I’m not so sure Remco would’ve enjoyed those massive mountain stages from the ’90s…