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

[Salvarani]

Shocking statement from the DS.

Why not say it wasnt the best day and they will analyse it.

Saying "we have no idea" is very amateurish and straight up laughable. Even if its true, why say it in public?
It does not fill anyone with confidence to say the least.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Is he?

Not Del Toro. I think him and Pogacar will have some interesting times when they ride together his year (not GT wise but in other races)
I don't see the rest being better than remco over the course of a whole GT. Unless he boinks hard.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I believe you're a native speaker of Dutch, so you should know that this can't be his name. It's Tijmen Graat

Of course Evenepoel can do better than this, but the fact remains that in nearly every stage race, at some point he just cracks on a climb. And there's always excuses, like today it's cramp, tomorrow it's the wrong bike, the day after it's sickness. I don't see why this should be any different this year, it's not like Bora have proved to be miracle workers thus far. Evenepoel is a really good rider, just not a born climber.

DS said it was not a cramp. Later today remco will say he cramped up . But DS said it was right after the stage and did not have the time to analyse , so as of now they don't know. He felt good yesterday (remco), so not sure why he was so bad today basically.

 

[Berniece]

Next mountain stage is better for Remco, but also for Del Toro. Del Toro is most likely to win in a sprint.

Jebel Hafeet is still quite difficult. If for some reason Evenepoel does a sprint with Del Toro there then something really went wrong today. There are 2 scenarios:

1. There's an actual excuse for his performance today that has nothing to do with his physique (what I think)
2. There's something wrong with his physique (what you think)

You can't expect him to struggle at 11-12% this hard, and then be in contention for victory at 8-9%.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Jebel Hafeet is still quite difficult. If for some reason Evenepoel does a sprint with Del Toro there then something really went wrong today. There are 2 scenarios:

1. There's an actual excuse for his performance today that has nothing to do with his physique (what I think)
2. There's something wrong with his physique (what you think)

You can't expect him to struggle at 11-12% this hard, and then be in contention for victory at 8-9%.

Actually that's exactly what i expect after today.

 

[Berniece]

Actually that's exactly what i expect after today.

Only if there's a reason for his failure today that has nothing to do with his physique and weight. Because you can't change those things in 3 days.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Only if there's a reason for his failure today that has nothing to do with his physique and weight. Because you can't change those things in 3 days.

True can't change shape in 3 days, unless you go extreme and that won't help being good in sports.
But for remco there does seem to be a difference between 8% and double digits.
I think remco needs specific prep to be decent/good at the latter. Whereas natural talent keeps him competitive at slightly lower gradients.

 

[AmRacer]

Not Del Toro. I think him and Pogacar will have some interesting times when they ride together his year (not GT wise but in other races)
I don't see the rest being better than remco over the course of a whole GT. Unless he boinks hard.

GT: Don't know how much Del Toro has improved, and others as well. The fight for third could be interesting, if Jonas can deliver a second place.

 

[Berniece]

True can't change shape in 3 days, unless you go extreme and that won't help being good in sports.
But for remco there does seem to be a difference between 8% and double digits.
I think remco needs specific prep to be decent/good at the latter. Whereas natural talent keeps him competitive at slightly lower gradients.

He shouldn't be just competitive. He should be able to win these races without a problem.

 

[YavorD]

Can someone bring up the Remco meme where hype cycles through phases of sharp increase after .pro races and falls flat after world tour races? I can't believe I'm watching this again... No excuses anymore.

Still believe he's winning the Tour one day, of course.

Maybe the clue is the lack of context after "the Tour"?
There's too many Tours to be won and the plot twist is that he isn't aiming for "..de France" but "... of Britain" perhaps.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Maybe the clue is the lack of context after "the Tour"?
There's too many Tours to be won and the plot twist is that he isn't aiming for "..de France" but "... of Britain" perhaps.

Pune Grand Tour

(Won on the tt after getting dropped by JCL UKYO on the climb, very hot in India, we don't know what happened.)

 

[Berniece]

No excuses from Evenepoel. Didn't feel well all day, had cramps from the start of the climb, it is what it is.

Remco Evenepoel wil geen excuses zoeken na offday met vroege krampen: "Ik had sowieso geen goed gevoel" | sporza

Op Jebel Mobrah is hij zichzelf tegengekomen. Remco Evenepoel verloor niet alleen zijn rode leiderstrui in de UAE Tour, de kopman van Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe zakte er stevig door op de onbekende col. "De inspanning van gisteren was niet volledig verteerd."

sporza.be

 

[elguapo]

Remco perhaps started his fasting today. It is the first day of the Muslim's month of Ramadhan.

 

[Red Rick]

Good for Remco accountability is step one.

Accountability is when you admit your mistakes and then don't make them again. This is just a description of how he claims he felt, and he doesn't really admit to anything.

 

[James M]

Accountability is when you admit your mistakes and then don't make them again. This is just a description of how he claims he felt, and he doesn't really admit to anything.

True I just have zero expectations from him regardig this and take whatever I guess. Honestly whatever im tired of this relentless cycle of mental gymnastics.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Shocking statement from the DS.

Why not say it wasnt the best day and they will analyse it.

Saying "we have no idea" is very amateurish and straight up laughable. Even if its true, why say it in public?
It does not fill anyone with confidence to say the least.

Lodewyck masterclass as always.

Havent watched UAE, is Remco fat or just useless?

 

[Salvarani]

Lodewyck masterclass as always.

Havent watched UAE, is Remco fat or just useless?

Being debated at the moment.

 

[Red Rick]

Overall this just repeats a few patterns for Evenepoel

1. Disappointing performance on a long and steep climb. Early season he's usually considerably worse on long climbs and on long and steep climbs it's basically always so. He's done one great performance on a 12% average or higher climb and it was 15 minutes.
2. Having a really *** performance the moment something goes wrong. He just doesn't have a B level, he falls through the floor immediately.
3. A more general observation that riders don't perform well outside their more natural skillset really early in the season. This is why you see Evenepoel struggle on long, big climbs in February, or why a guy like Vingegaard may drop a horrendous flat TT in the Tirreno.

His coach was talking about his legs being too muscular, but I more specficially think he just doesn't have a typical cyclists' build with long, legs. He has a sprinter's build with shorter limbs and I really think that hurts more on steep gradients where a pedal stroke becomes less continuous and crank inertial load increases.

I think he just trained more on shorter, more explosive efforts earlier in the season, in part to get more wins in earlier in the season and give his move to Red Bull a boost. But I don't really think that much has changed about him as a rider by going to Red Bull. His ITT is phenomenal, but it was already so at QS, and even as early as 2022 he could compete on punchy climbs on an LBL stage with the likes of Pogacar early in the season in Tirreno.

Aside from that, I don't think he handles disappointment well within a race and he clearly struggles to push through bad legs to push for like a 5th or whatever place. Whether that extends to him blocking completely in races like the TdF 2025 I'm not sure.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Maybe the clue is the lack of context after "the Tour"?
There's too many Tours to be won and the plot twist is that he isn't aiming for "..de France" but "... of Britain" perhaps.

Many tours but only one "the Tour"

 

[Netserk]

Overall this just repeats a few patterns for Evenepoel

1. Disappointing performance on a long and steep climb. Early season he's usually considerably worse on long climbs and on long and steep climbs it's basically always so. He's done one great performance on a 12% average or higher climb and it was 15 minutes.
2. Having a really *** performance the moment something goes wrong. He just doesn't have a B level, he falls through the floor immediately.
3. A more general observation that riders don't perform well outside their more natural skillset really early in the season. This is why you see Evenepoel struggle on long, big climbs in February, or why a guy like Vingegaard may drop a horrendous flat TT in the Tirreno.

yeah this is what is meant by fatco being no natural climber

 

[Berniece]

Overall this just repeats a few patterns for Evenepoel

1. Disappointing performance on a long and steep climb. Early season he's usually considerably worse on long climbs and on long and steep climbs it's basically always so. He's done one great performance on a 12% average or higher climb and it was 15 minutes.
2. Having a really *** performance the moment something goes wrong. He just doesn't have a B level, he falls through the floor immediately.
3. A more general observation that riders don't perform well outside their more natural skillset really early in the season. This is why you see Evenepoel struggle on long, big climbs in February, or why a guy like Vingegaard may drop a horrendous flat TT in the Tirreno.

His coach was talking about his legs being too muscular, but I more specficially think he just doesn't have a typical cyclists' build with long, legs. He has a sprinter's build with shorter limbs and I really think that hurts more on steep gradients where a pedal stroke becomes less continuous and crank inertial load increases.

I think he just trained more on shorter, more explosive efforts earlier in the season, in part to get more wins in earlier in the season and give his move to Red Bull a boost. But I don't really think that much has changed about him as a rider by going to Red Bull. His ITT is phenomenal, but it was already so at QS, and even as early as 2022 he could compete on punchy climbs on an LBL stage with the likes of Pogacar early in the season in Tirreno.

Aside from that, I don't think he handles disappointment well within a race and he clearly struggles to push through bad legs to push for like a 5th or whatever place. Whether that extends to him blocking completely in races like the TdF 2025 I'm not sure.

He has 2 big goals this spring. Catalunya and Ardennes Classics. In what world is he going to do well in Catalunya if you see how hard the race is this year? Then he needs to train very differently the next 4 weeks, and probably lose some weight.

 

[AmRacer]

He has 2 big goals this spring. Catalunya and Ardennes Classics. In what world is he going to do well in Catalunya if you see how hard the race is this year? Then he needs to train very differently the next 4 weeks, and probably lose some weight.

Oh, the weight. ..

 

[Red Rick]

He has 2 big goals this spring. Catalunya and Ardennes Classics. In what world is he going to do well in Catalunya if you see how hard the race is this year? Then he needs to train very differently the next 4 weeks, and probably lose some weight.

No such climbs in Catalunya this year. Or any year.

I forgot to add one thing. Evenepoel says he didn't recover from his ITT. I actually think it's more likely that 2 hours in a hot seat would *** with him rather than not recovering from a 13 minute effort.

Also, it's not too late to race Milano Sanremo and RVV for *** sake.

 

[Berniece]

No such climbs in Catalunya this year. Or any year.

I forgot to add one thing. Evenepoel says he didn't recover from his ITT. I actually think it's more likely that 2 hours in a hot seat would *** with him rather than not recovering from a 13 minute effort.

Also, it's not too late to race Milano Sanremo and RVV for *** sake.

No climbs like this, but long climbs at 8-9%. I still don't see why that would be feasible after a performance like today.

Also, no way RBH is changing schedule so last minute.

 

[Pozzovivo]

I forgot to add one thing. Evenepoel says he didn't recover from his ITT. I actually think it's more likely that 2 hours in a hot seat would *** with him rather than not recovering from a 13 minute effort.

How does sitting down in a seat for two hours affect your performance the next day? You don't think the other riders were sitting down somewhere else?