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

[Logic-is-your-friend]

And stop whining to moderation, the Pogacar thread in the clinic is full of the same posts over and over again and I don't see you there, asking for moderation to act.

That's exactly the point of the clinic topics, why the entire subforum exists in the first place, for people to make baseless accusations without moderation stepping in. Stay away if you don't like it.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

And in what world would Remco beat Pogacar in the 2012 Tour?

12 year old Evenepoel easily mops the floor with 13 year old Pogacar. No contest.

 

[houtdffan]

A 75km TTT??? Terrible idea. I’d prefer they banish TTTs from GTs altogether, or at least don’t count them toward GC.

Everyone hated that Tour in part because of the route, as I recall

it was the sky train that ruined that tour.

That type of route would work today. Touissure and the Grand Colombier Stage would have seen the top 10 spread out over several minutes due to all the long range attacking that would have been done. Pyrenees would have been a war

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

it was the sky train that ruined that tour.

That type of route would work today. Touissure and the Grand Colombier Stage would have seen the top 10 spread out over several minutes due to all the long range attacking that would have been done. Pyrenees would have been a war

A 75km TTT against UAE.

 

[proffate]

Can you quote these people? Haven’t read this anywhere

I would say it's possible (not probable) if Pog and Remco swapped teams, and the organizers added 150-200km of TT.

This could also backfire by prompting Pog to practice the TT more and take away Remcos edge there.

 

[houtdffan]

A 75km TTT against UAE.

I'd love to see Red Bull led by Remco vs UAE. Red Bull will be no slouch in the TT

 

[AlpRaid]

I'd love to see Red Bull led by Remco vs UAE. Red Bull will be no slouch in the TT

But crushed in any pure watts/kg battle. How many UAE were on the front end as Pog made his attack on Ganda? How many Red Bull?

Pretty funny. Not sure how much benefit poor Remco is going to see when he needs the type of jump Pog made between 23 and 24.

 

[houtdffan]

But crushed in any pure watts/kg battle. How many UAE were on the front end as Pog made his attack on Ganda? How many Red Bull?

Pretty funny. Not sure how much benefit poor Remco is going to see when he needs the type of jump Pog made between 23 and 24.

the flat TTT would be another story, however.

Yes, Pog would still have a decisive advantage on the climbs. We'd at least get back to the climber vs TT specialist battles that made the TDF, the TDF

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

So this is all about a perfect route for what? If not to win, is for what?
And stop whining to moderation, the Pogacar thread in the clinic is full of the same posts over and over again and I don't see you there, asking for moderation to act.
It's clear he was talking about a route where Remco could actually win. So if he mentioned the 2012 TdF as an actual route where Remco could win, I asked him in what world could he beat the TdF winner.

Firstly, nobody went "whining to moderators", but it is not to be criticised if somebody had.

Secondly, nobody asserted that Evenepoel would win on such a route, simply that that would give him a better chance than any other.

 

[houtdffan]

nobody asserted that Evenepoel would win on such a route, simply that that would give him a better chance than any other.

Pog would still be the favorite.

However, he may win by 3 minutes vs 10

I'd love for Pog to lose 4 minutes in a 65km ITT and another 3 minutes in a 55km ITT. Pog would then unleash his full fury in the mountains, but he'd have to be careful he doesn't blow up entirely while doing so, while ensuring he takes enougn time.

It would be the classic TDF battle, not the world climbing championships Gouvenou has reduced it to

 

[how yes no?]

I'd love for Pog to lose 4 minutes in a 65km ITT and another 3 minutes in a 55km ITT. Pog would then unleash his full fury in the mountains, but he'd have to be careful he doesn't blow up entirely while doing so, while ensuring he takes enougn time.

One of those TTs would have to be in the latter part of the tour when recovery becomes an important factor and is the reason Pogačar would not lose even nearly as much time, in fact if the rolling terrain TT had any actual climb, he might even win (as he did in last stage of 2024 Tour), not being the favorite, but far from impossible .
Anyway, I believe Pogačar has still some reserves left in TTs and if there were such Tours, he'd probably work on them a lot harder.

 

[houtdffan]

One of those TTs would have to be in the latter part of the tour when recovery becomes an important factor and is the reason Pogačar would not lose even nearly as much time, in fact if the rolling terrain TT had any actual climb, he might even win (as he did in last stage of 2024 Tour), not being the favorite, but far from impossible .
Anyway, I believe Pogačar has still some reserves left in TTs and if there were such Tours, he'd probably work on them a lot harder.

that was an MTT with a cat 2 and a cat 3 climb on the final stage of 2024.

I'm talking about a more traditional rolling ITT, something more akin to stage 14 of 2007, which only had a single, small cat 4

 

[peterfin]

One of those TTs would have to be in the latter part of the tour when recovery becomes an important factor and is the reason Pogačar would not lose even nearly as much time, in fact if the rolling terrain TT had any actual climb, he might even win (as he did in last stage of 2024 Tour), not being the favorite, but far from impossible .
Anyway, I believe Pogačar has still some reserves left in TTs and if there were such Tours, he'd probably work on them a lot harder.

He needs a road bike to excel in TTs. While he is in the richest team and has all the means and expertise, fiddling with his TT setup and TT training doesn't work apparantly.

 

[Monsi]

He needs a road bike to excel in TTs. While he is in the richest team and has all the means and expertise, fiddling with his TT setup and TT training doesn't work apparantly.

Pogacar in Grand Tour ITTs is a different breed though compared to Pogacar in WC/EC ITTs.

 

[peterfin]

Pogacar in Grand Tour ITTs is a different breed though compared to Pogacar in WC/EC ITTs.

Why? Motivation?

 

[Jan the Man]

Why? Motivation?

More to do with having to do a TT at the end of a three week race than as a one day race/early on in a stage race. Parcours of the recent TTs at the end of the Tour also have an impact.

 

[Monsi]

Why? Motivation?

I guess he just values those Grand Tour ITTs a lot since he knows he can gain time on everyone except Remco (if the ITT is flat) in terms of the GC

More to do with having to do a TT at the end of a three week race than as a one day race/early on in a stage race. Parcours of the recent TTs at the end of the Tour also have an impact.

Well, it's not just the third week TTs. Pogi has also done really well in early Grand Tour ITTs. Won one each in the 2021 Tour and 2024 Giro (but that had a climb in the end). Then he only lost less than 20 seconds in each of the first week TTs to Remco in the past two Tours.

 

[Jan the Man]

I guess he just values those Grand Tour ITTs a lot since he knows he can gain time on everyone except Remco (if the ITT is flat) in terms of the GC


Well, it's not just the third week TTs. Pogi has also done really well in early Grand Tour ITTs. Won one each in the 2021 Tour and 2024 Giro (but that had a climb in the end). Then he only lost less than 20 seconds in each of the first week TTs to Remco in the past two Tours.

He won the TTs you mentioned without being up against Remco other than the Tour TT last year which was v tough parcour. Pog is not bad at TTs he’s just nowhere near Remco’s league (no one is)- the gap is diminshed and sometimes extinguished in tough TTs at the end of a grand tour which simpy aren’t comparable to a one off TT

 

[KZD]

After some difficult months I have to say that I was impressed with how Remco bounced back in the latter part of the season. He showed once again that he is the best time trialist in the world and the second best hilly classics rider in the world.

Hopefully no major crashes next season (and during the off-season) to enable him to get in shape early and be competitive in GTs again.

 

[HashRouge]

That's exactly the point of the clinic topics, why the entire subforum exists in the first place, for people to make baseless accusations without moderation stepping in. Stay away if you don't like it.

I had to step away from the Clinic for this reason. I think the end point for me was when someone shared a video of Mikkel Bjerg's TT bike with the wheel seemingly spinning on its own and claimed he must be using a motor. A quick search took me to the full clip and you could see that Bjerg himself had spun the wheel and the video had just been very selectively cropped. I'm very fond of Mikkel Bjerg, so I took it personally and noped right out of the Clinic.