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

[Berflamand]

So he should've gone earlier then.

Ofcourse going earlier would be better.

I just think the impact on this type of course would be minimal, especially since he will have 2 full days to recon it without having to battle a jetlag.

Or are you talking about Wollongong? Because he was rather busy winning the Vuelta at that time.

 

[Berniece]

Ofcourse going earlier would be better.

I just think the impact on this type of course would be minimal, especially since he will have 2 full days to recon it without having to battle a jetlag.

2.5 days even, they do another recon in the morning normally.

 

[yaco]

So he should've gone earlier then.

He flew out to Australia either on the night of his Vuelta victory or the next day with a bunch of Belgian journalists.

 

[KoopaCycling]

If it helps, Van der poel practised a whole week on the WC MTB terrain. In the end the legs weren't there.
So as important as recon can be, the legs comes first anyways.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I agree with all this.

What facts did I misrepresent?

I was talking about the impact of the jetlag on his recons. IIRC he definitely was very tired that week and only found his power back on the race day.

The point was not that he should have done more recon back then. He didn't have the time. The point is that Foss did have the time and beat Evenepoel, Küng and Ganna because of it. And Evenepoel did have the time now. But he didn't, again.

The reason why he didn't win in Wollongong was not him being jetlagged, his numbers were still excellent, it was him not knowing the course.

 

[Berniece]

The point was not that he should have done more recon back then. He didn't have the time. The point is that Foss did have the time and beat Evenepoel, Küng and Ganna because of it. And Evenepoel did have the time now. But he didn't, again.

The reason why he didn't win in Wollongong was not him being jetlagged, his numbers were still excellent, it was him not knowing the course.

And he didn’t know the course because of jet lag

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

And he didn’t know the course because of jet lag

Because there was not enough time regardless. Had there have been more time, the jetlag wouldn't have mattered. Even without the jetlag he wouldn't have had nearly as much time to recon the course as Foss.

He did have the time now.

 

[Berniece]

Because there was not enough time regardless. Had there have been more time, the jetlag wouldn't have mattered. Even without the jetlag he wouldn't have had nearly as much time to recon the course as Foss.

He did have the time now.

Yes, I agree. But this time due to the course not being as technical, there probably is enough time.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yes, I agree. But this time due to the course not being as technical, there probably is enough time.

I'm not saying he should have gone 2 weeks earlier, but 2 days for 40+km is barely enough for a regular recon. While corners may be fewer, there is more to it than just cornering. Crashing in a corner with gravel, getting a puncture on a pothole, holding back just that tiny fraction in the downhill...

 

[Berniece]

I'm not saying he should have gone 2 weeks earlier, but 2 days for 40+km is barely enough for a regular recon. While corners may be fewer, there is more to it than just cornering. Crashing in a corner with gravel, getting a puncture on a pothole, holding back just that tiny fraction in the downhill...

All true, and one can wonder that if the WC was in Europe he might have gone earlier. I still think he has enough time for recon, but we'll see in a couple of days.

 

[Berniece]

I'm not saying he should have gone 2 weeks earlier, but 2 days for 40+km is barely enough for a regular recon. While corners may be fewer, there is more to it than just cornering. Crashing in a corner with gravel, getting a puncture on a pothole, holding back just that tiny fraction in the downhill...

Also apparently it's purely a financial decision. Leaving 1-2 days early with 1 staff member for 5-10K is nothing for him if that improves his chances.

In Kigali, we've chosen to keep the riders' stay as short as possible. While other World Championships have riders traveling four or even five days before their race, we're now assuming race day minus three.

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/sport/wielrennen/wordt-dit-een-wk-extra-small-geldgebrek-doet-bijna-alle-toplanden-snoeien-in-hun-teams-voor-kigali/90636444.html

 

[Berflamand]

Talking about having enough time for recons, the EC TT is going to be especially problematic.

Apparently Remco's flying back from Rwanda on monday evening, landing in Marseille on tuesday morning. When he reaches the Belgian team hotel it will already be afternoon and he will only have that afternoon (and the morning of the race) to do a recon, all while probably being tired from his night flight.

And then he's going to have to battle guys like Ganna who are focussing exclusively on the EC TT.

I guess this strengthens Logic's point that he should have gone sooner to Rwanda because for the WC TT he actually had the time to do it.

 

[Berflamand]

Just had a look at the parcours of the EC TT and it also looks very straightforward and non-technical so I guess there's that.

 

[Berniece]

Just had a look at the parcours of the EC TT and it also looks very straightforward and non-technical so I guess there's that.

Yeah, it's not as important and should suit him better. Even with a worse recon he should be very close to a win.

 

[Berflamand]

Yeah, it's not as important and should suit him better. Even with a worse recon he should be very close to a win.

In normal circumstances I would agree but so close after the WC, with the long transfer and night flight and against a fresh Ganna (and probably Tarling) I'm not so sure.

 

[Berniece]

In normal circumstances I would agree but so close after the WC, with the long transfer and night flight and against a fresh Ganna (and probably Tarling) I'm not so sure.

True, and WC RR is going to be tough. And after winning it he probably stays up late so that also doesn't help.

 

[Berflamand]

True, and WC RR is going to be tough. And after winning it he probably stays up late so that also doesn't help.

If he actually ends up winning the WC RR, I couldn't care less about the EC TT.

 

[Extinction]

Why are they shooting for these scrapts? It lacks dignaty and honor, let alone authority.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If he actually ends up winning the WC RR, I couldn't care less about the EC TT.

We should think of a ruse in order to get Pogacar to do the ECC ITT instead and Ganna the WCC ITT, a good old switcheroo. That way Evenepoel can win both.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I care most about EC RR this year. But i think It will all be Pogacar this year. I do hope things get more competitive soon.
Cause i can count the number of big races that were fun to watch on my hand this year.

You could basically pencil in the winner months in advance this year.

 

[Berniece]

He's ready for the WC and EC. Seems very confident in his form at the moment.

Remco Evenepoel kijkt uit naar avontuur in Rwanda en "battle" met Pogacar: "Ik heb alles perfect kunnen doen wat nodig was" | sporza

Met een vlucht van een dikke 8 uur begint Remco Evenepoel vandaag aan een kampioenschapsblok van twee weken. De tijdrit op het WK in Rwanda wordt zondag meteen de eerste grote afspraak. Evenepoel kijkt - zoals altijd - brandend van ambitie vooruit. "Hopelijk kan ik met zoveel mogelijk truien...

sporza.be

 

[peterfin]

He's ready for the WC and EC. Seems very confident in his form at the moment.

Remco Evenepoel kijkt uit naar avontuur in Rwanda en "battle" met Pogacar: "Ik heb alles perfect kunnen doen wat nodig was" | sporza

Met een vlucht van een dikke 8 uur begint Remco Evenepoel vandaag aan een kampioenschapsblok van twee weken. De tijdrit op het WK in Rwanda wordt zondag meteen de eerste grote afspraak. Evenepoel kijkt - zoals altijd - brandend van ambitie vooruit. "Hopelijk kan ik met zoveel mogelijk truien...

sporza.be

I hope he could add a few percentages to his Tour of Britain level because that will be necessary if he wants to challenge Pogacar, potentially even in the TT.

 

[AlpRaid]

I hope he could add a few percentages to his Tour of Britain level because that will be necessary if he wants to challenge Pogacar, potentially even in the TT.

agreed, but really hard to know what his actual form was at ToB. He was putting in extra miles after many stages, and using some of the flat stages simply to go to the front and take some long pulls.

I am more concerned how competitive he will be in the road race, since he did not look back to his dominant self on that last sharp climb during the last stage of ToB. And I doubt he will be competitive with Pog in that anyway, but I even have concerns about a podium there.

 

[Berniece]

agreed, but really hard to know what his actual form was at ToB. He was putting in extra miles after many stages, and using some of the flat stages simply to go to the front and take some long pulls.

I am more concerned how competitive he will be in the road race, since he did not look back to his dominant self on that last sharp climb during the last stage of ToB. And I doubt he will be competitive with Pog in that anyway, but I even have concerns about a podium there.

He didn’t do any hard trainings before ToB yet. Those happened after ToB. Intervals, working on accelerations, etc. So we don’t have an indicator for the RR unfortunately. If he loses the ITT I can’t imagine him winning the RR because I can’t imagine him being able to ride away from Pogacar who will be at the front the whole race. Pogi will do the same as he did during WC’23. When Evenepoel attacks, he’ll jump to his wheel.

 

[Oldman]

I hope he could add a few percentages to his Tour of Britain level because that will be necessary if he wants to challenge Pogacar, potentially even in the TT.

How do you accomplish that without going to the clinic zone? Rest would help without going there...