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

[Peyroteo94]

I will say this. Next GT Remco enters, i won't take it as certain he'll finish the race, let alone podium it.
Too much has happened, and i will need to see remco prove himself again. Which i don't like. Cause Remco seems to need to prove himself again and again, far more than other riders. But i would need to see it first again.

But if we're talking about a Remco pre-winter injury, and assuming he can return to where he left off. It's an entirely different matter. And to say that that version of Remco is not a GT rider, and would not crack top 5 this vuelta, and is worse than the riders riding top 5 here. I can't take that seriously. Aside from Vingegaard, whom i feel would have been able to dig deep, deeper than what Almeida seemingly managed to push him to.

We all had the opportunity to see Remco after his best season ever in the Giro and Vuelta (2023) and his results were horrible.

 

[KoopaCycling]

We all had the opportunity to see Remco after his best season ever in the Giro and Vuelta (2023) and his results were horrible.

We both know that if i respond with why his giro failed or that he was in pink when illness came you'll just be calling it an excuse. I would also take Remco 23 over Almeida from an overall perspective. Just GT wise it's harder to choose. Almeida got a podium and a stage. remco got 5 stages and polka dots. From a performance perspective i would tend to take the podium over polka dots. from a legacy perspective, i rather have the polka dots. only fanatics remembers podiums. Only what was won is usually remembered.

 

[Peyroteo94]

We both know that if i respond with why his giro failed or that he was in pink when illness came you'll just be calling it an excuse.

Everything can be an excuse. The ability to stay healthy is one of the main strenghts of world class GT riders.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Hey now, LR did give him the highest W/kg for that climb even though he got dropped

It's not surprising if he was setting the pace on a shallow section and lost little time, is it?

 

[KoopaCycling]

Everything can be an excuse. The ability to stay healthy is one of the main strenghts of world class GT riders.

yes well, covid gave us a strange time.

 

[Red Rick]

It's not surprising if he was setting the pace on a shallow section and lost little time, is it?

It is when you lose over half a minute, and it's not like Evenepoel never had help from a teammate or that Mas and MAL never did their own work. *** made no sense, and it's not the only time LR have nonsensically boosted his numbers

 

[Berniece]

Everything can be an excuse. The ability to stay healthy is one of the main strenghts of world class GT riders.

Idiotic take. Pogacar had COVID before TDF '24. How would it have went if he had it during TDF? And we literally had to hear from Pogacar fans that the only reason he wasn't as good at the end of the TDF was because he was sick...

 

[Charlyghoul]

At the end of the day, all said and done. We need to see Remco next year to truly scrutinise his credentials going forward in terms of grand tours.
I still maintain he should base a season around the giro, but whether that will happen, doubtful.
It seems a mistake to target the tour because he has no chance against Pog or Ving, why would his new team want him to focus on the tour? Surely it’s better to go all out for a giro and then look at the tour the next year or the year after

 

[Karl Merckx]

Hey now, LR did give him the highest W/kg for that climb even though he got dropped

Not true, they gave the best W/Kg to MAL then to Remco, which makes perfect sense if you watched the race.

 

[peterfin]

If you miss two days here it's almost impossible to catch up. This thread keeps goes on and on with hyptothetical discussions about Remco's performance in races he didn't participate in with the majority apparantly from people who aren't fans but just have an opinion on him. If in the future people ask why there is so much hype here or why this thread is so long, don't blame the few fans that post here.

 

[AmRacer]

If you miss two days here it's almost impossible to catch up. This thread keeps goes on and on with hyptothetical discussions about Remco's performance in races he didn't participate in with the majority apparantly from people who aren't fans but just have an opinion on him. If in the future people ask why there is so much hype here or why this thread is so long, don't blame the few fans that post here.

It's his fans talking about Remoc's hyptothetical performances in races he didn't participate in combined with e/e's (excuses and explanations) when he fails.

 

[peterfin]

Where would the Vuelta winning Remco have finished in this Vuelta ?

@AmRacer I checked it for you. It was not a fan who starts the fire.

 

[AmRacer]

@AmRacer I checked it for you. It was not a fan who starts the fire.

It was a fan who got on fire.

 

[peterfin]

It was a fan who got on fire.

If the first answer to that question is "Top 10 or DNF" you can expect a reaction. It's not my point. It's just that there are far more here that try to minimize Remco's effort whenever they see a chance. Relevant discussions for those who care at least a bit about the athlete are difficult with all this noise. But that's just my opinion. I know that this forum is also just a bit of fun for many here.

 

[AmRacer]

If the first answer to that question is "Top 10 or DNF" you can expect a reaction. It's not my point. It's just that there are far more here that try to minimize Remco's effort whenever they see a chance. Relevant discussions for those who care at least a bit about the athlete are difficult with all this noise. But that's just my opinion. I know that this forum is also just a bit of fun for many here.

I don't care if I got a reaction or not. Remco fans creating noise with whatifsbutwhatabout. That's not a good recipe for relevant discussions. But as you say, it's a forum so what.

 

[Andre]

It was a fan who got on fire.

when one starts a fire the fire has a tendency to spread and may envelop and consume those around it

 

[AmRacer]

when one starts a fire the fire has a tendency to spread and may envelop and consume those around it

Yeps, it's best not be on fire.

 

[Andre]

Yeps, it's best not be on fire.

better yet not to be an arsonist

 

[AmRacer]

better yet not to be an arsonist

When you are on fire, don't ignite your surroundings.

 

[Andre]

When you are on fire, don't ignite your surroundings.

when you are on fire there are no surroundings....only escape

 

[Berniece]

Evenepoel is leaving Thursday morning in Belgium and flying for 8.5 hours to Rwanda. He’ll have 2 days to prepare and get used to the altitude difference.

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/sport/wielrennen/eerste-belgische-delegatie-met-remco-evenepoel-reist-donderdag-naar-rwanda-voor-wereldkampioenschappen-wielrennen/90544874.html

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Evenepoel is leaving Thursday morning in Belgium and flying for 8.5 hours to Rwanda. He’ll have 2 days to prepare and get used to the altitude difference.

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/sport/wielrennen/eerste-belgische-delegatie-met-remco-evenepoel-reist-donderdag-naar-rwanda-voor-wereldkampioenschappen-wielrennen/90544874.html

So again not a lot of time for recon. I wonder if he remembers how Foss beat him.

 

[Berniece]

So again not a lot of time for recon. I wonder if he remembers how Foss beat him.

It's not as technical this time. If he actually goes and does multiple recons on Friday, Saturday and Sunday that should be enough.

WC ITT 2022

WC ITT 2025

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

It's not as technical this time. If he actually goes and does multiple recons on Friday, Saturday and Sunday that should be enough.

I know it's not as technical, but on a 40+km route, there are still easily 20-30 seconds up for grabs, if not (just) from cornering, then maybe which side of the road runs smoother, adjusting pacing before a seemingly insignificant gradient etc. I swear, if he loses time on the downhills again...

 

[Berflamand]

I know it's not as technical, but on a 40+km route, there are still easily 20-30 seconds up for grabs, if not (just) from cornering, then maybe which side of the road runs smoother, adjusting pacing before a seemingly insignificant gradient etc. I swear, if he loses time on the downhills again...

I doubt there are many riders who will be there earlier than thursday.

I think it's mostly a decision by the national cycling federations based on accommodation options and hotel prices to travel as late as possible.

I guess Remco himself could have organised/paid for an earlier trip but that may have been a lot of hassle and money for limited gains.