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

[AmRacer]

LBL winning Evenepoel was also peaking for LBL while he presumably currently is aiming for the WC which is like 2- weeks away

I think Remco should be in a better shape now.

 

[Berniece]

Wasn’t able to watch the race live, but just rewatched the last 2.5km’s. The race was not hard enough and Evenepoel could really use a better team here. Van Wilder was great, but it would help a lot if they would have 4 riders that could go all out from the foot of the climb to drop most riders, and get the others out of breath so Evenepoel can attack without others being able to follow so easily.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Wasn’t able to watch the race live, but just rewatched the last 2.5km’s. The race was not hard enough and Evenepoel could really use a better team here. Van Wilder was great, but it would help a lot if they would have 4 riders that could go all out from the foot of the climb to drop most riders, and get the others out of breath so Evenepoel can attack without others being able to follow so easily.

Or better tactics. Van Wilder is in decent form and could contend here, and he would get more room from other teams than Evenepoel. But somehow it is inconceivable that he would be sent up the road with a few others and go for it himself, while Evenepoel can stay back until the others play their hand. This is the 3rd 4th (!) season they are racing together and not once have they tried that. Either Van Wilder can chase the win, or if he finds he isn't strong enough, drop back and/or wait for Evenepoel to bridge. No, the tactical arsenal of Lodewyck consists of all the following "lead out Evenepoel", "lead out Evenepoel" and "lead out Evenepoel".

 

[Berflamand]

I think Remco should be in a better shape now.

I also hoped he'd be a bit better already but it's not that bad either. He's definitely a whole lot better than last year at the Tour of Britain and then he still won WC ITT and came 5th at the Road Race.

I remain hopeful that he'll be able to hit top form (or at least something close to it) at the Worlds.

 

[HashRouge]

I think Remco should be in a better shape now.

I think there was a strong headwind on the Tumble, which made attacking difficult. I wouldn't read anything into the fact that Remco didn't attack and drop everyone.

 

[AmRacer]

I also hoped he'd be a bit better already but it's not that bad either. He's definitely a whole lot better than last year at the Tour of Britain and then he still won WC ITT and came 5th at the Road Race.

I remain hopeful that he'll be able to hit top form (or at least something close to it) at the Worlds.

Last year, he had a better foundation to build at. This year, he DNF the Tour.

 

[Berniece]

I also hoped he'd be a bit better already but it's not that bad either. He's definitely a whole lot better than last year at the Tour of Britain and then he still won WC ITT and came 5th at the Road Race.

I remain hopeful that he'll be able to hit top form (or at least something close to it) at the Worlds.

Not sure how he could’ve showed to be much better. Everyone is stuck on his wheel and the stage was not difficult besides that short climb.

 

[KoopaCycling]

seems he tried but not able to get it over the line. again, i'm thinking if he has a proper train, he'll at least be able to sprint for the victory in a reduced bunch. he has a chance then, not against someone like Kooij. At least that is what i got from the live tracker.

 

[Berniece]

Evenepoel and his DS Lodewyck explained what the plan is for the following weeks to get him ready for the WC.

Intensive training sessions in Spain combined with heath and altitude stimuli. He's leaving for the WC in Rwanda as late as possible. So probably the Thursday or Friday before the ITT I guess.

 

[Red Rick]

Evenepoel and his DS Lodewyck explained what the plan is for the following weeks to get him ready for the WC.

Intensive training sessions in Spain combined with heath and altitude stimuli. He's leaving for the WC in Rwanda as late as possible. So probably the Thursday or Friday before the ITT I guess.

That seems questionably late.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

That seems questionably late.

As long as he doesn‘t lose his bags… There‘s no jet lag. Of course the weather might be a shock to the system, but riders fly to most races two days before.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Belgian Cycling paid for the tickets and all that. Unless they pay out of pocket, it is what it is.
Plus, he should have plenty enough time before RR.

 

[Berniece]

Interview Koen Pelgrim, the performance coach of Evenepoel in HLN.

• He'll be training in the heat in Calpe, and sleeping in altitude chamber at his home.
• Feeling at training camp Livigno was better than before Dauphine/TDF. He could recover properly from sessions and didn't have to build in as much rest.
• Values in Tour of Britain were good, and he was riding with a surplus of energy
• They didn't want to do Canada due to 2 long flights and 2 jetlags
• He's weighing more than at the TDF. He's at his Ardennes classics weight.
• He lands in Kigali on Thursday 18th of September. 3 days before the WC ITT.
• Pogacar is his biggest opponent for the WC ITT on a course like this

https://archive.is/Us33x#selection-2053.0-2072.0

 

[KoopaCycling]

yeah Pogacar favourite for me (RR and TT)

 

[Berniece]

yeah Pogacar favourite for me (RR and TT)

I still expect Evenepoel to win the ITT, but it will be very very close

 

[Red Rick]

Ardennes weight is comical at this route.

 

[Netserk]

Ardennes weight is comical at this route.

I don't think he can recover and train sufficiently if he is too light for too long. He's not build to be thin.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't think he can recover and train sufficiently if he is too light for too long. He's not build to be thin.

Someone should've told Bora

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I still expect Evenepoel to win the ITT, but it will be very very close

Yeah, if Pog is near his top form it should be interesting. His best chance so far at WC TT.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, if Pog is near his top form it should be interesting. His best chance so far at WC TT.

Traditionally, the TT has been 4 days before the RR, and it's been too close to really peak for both, especially if the TT had been very long.

Now it should be more doable, but with the difficulty of the road race, Pogacar may have done less work on the FTP for the ITT.

If Pogacar does one of his best TTs, it's not interesting, because he wins it easily

 

[Berniece]

Ardennes weight is comical at this route.

I think they expect it's more important to be more explosive, since the climbs are quite short

 

[Red Rick]

I think they expect it's more important to be more explosive, since the climbs are quite short

With this accumulation you need to be light.

Most likely they simply prioritized power first because it's the healthier and more secure thing to do, especially if he struggles with keeping his weight down for longer periods of time.

But I don't think it bodes well for his ITT at all.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Traditionally, the TT has been 4 days before the RR, and it's been too close to really peak for both, especially if the TT had been very long.

Now it should be more doable, but with the difficulty of the road race, Pogacar may have done less work on the FTP for the ITT.

If Pogacar does one of his best TTs, it's not interesting, because he wins it easily

Evenepoel generally has larger margin in TTs, even at 70% form (when he flops in the mountains) he still smokes them. Pog can flop in TTs when not in top form but this route compensates for their normal TT dynamics.

 

[SafeBet]

Interview Koen Pelgrim, the performance coach of Evenepoel in HLN.

• Pogacar is his biggest opponent for the WC ITT on a course like this

Just so everybody knows what we're talking about:

 

[Berniece]

With this accumulation you need to be light.

Most likely they simply prioritized power first because it's the healthier and more secure thing to do, especially if he struggles with keeping his weight down for longer periods of time.

But I don't think it bodes well for his ITT at all.

It also depends heavily on how hard the race will be made. There are 6.000m of altitude to overcome, which is insane already, but if this is an oldschool WC where we get 5 riders from random countries getting 13min. And the race won't explode until Mount Kigali, or even after it, I think it's fine.

The ITT on the other hand is more difficult. Obviously with this weight he'll have a higher power output, and I also feel the course isn't as difficult as TDF'24 stage 21 for example. There are still a lot of flat sections, or sections that only go slightly uphill. Evenepoel probably needs to be ~30s ahead at the third time interval