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

[KoopaCycling]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

Surely he's got the base covered this time around. It's the building on top that seems only half build atm.
I find it strangely encouraging he was not good enough this time around as well.

 

[Cycling111]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

I already said that Vingegaard didn't go because he only wants to compete to win before the Tour.

Although Vingegaard should be able to beat Plapp by more than 12 seconds even without being in top shape.

 

[Gianetti_Is_The_Goat]

Different competition, different races.

Tiberi was also there in Valencia and Almeida is doing fine in Algarve.

 

[AmRacer]

Tiberi was also there in Valencia and Almeida is doing fine in Algarve.

Remco has won both the UAE Tour and Algarve, maybe he was better before.

 

[houtdffan]

Del Toro did the climb 41 seconds faster than Yates in 2023

Remco's climb seems very similar to his 2023 climb

 

[saunaking]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?

What's wrong with his base? Finally he had a good offseason of preparation.
That is an excuse for previous years, not 2026

 

[Cycling111]

Del Toro did the climb 41 seconds faster than Yates in 2023

Remco's climb seems very similar to his 2023 climb

Don't focus on that, focus on everyone who finished ahead. Plapp isn't better than Yates, just as Remco isn't better climber than Pantani for having a better time climb than him.

 

[Snake]

I don't think he’s ever put in an impressive climbing performance without doing an altitude camp first

 

[Extinction]

There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come herale when he clearly does not have the base?

He should have done anltitude camp on Tiede instead.

 

[Divergence]

He should have done anltitude camp on Tiede instead.

I do not think even a TC on the moon would have helped.

 

[Red Rick]

In 2019, his first WT race, he also got 15th on Jebel Hafeet.

The phrase "back to square 1" comes to mind.

 

[houtdffan]

Don't focus on that, focus on everyone who finished ahead. Plapp isn't better than Yates, just as Remco isn't better climber than Pantani for having a better time climb than him.

Yep. Remco needs to do better. What was good enough 3 years ago is not good enough today

 

[veganrob]

Dudes just too freakin fat. He looks like Caleb Ewan for crying out loud.

 

[AmRacer]

When Remco won the UAE Tour and Algarve, had he went to altitude camp? Or maybe the competition is just better now.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I will not lie and pretend i did not expect more from remco this UAE Tour. I expected Del toro to be really good here.
(aside from some questions surrounding a multiple mountain climb stage, i already have him as a genuine GT contender, i would pick him ahead of Almeida if i'm the boss at UAE) But I also expected it to be a genuine battle. Instead the gap was large. The fact that he seems to have had a good winter, tells me the base this time around is there. I mean he always says the training sessions been going well.

I will assume the 'real' climbing training starts a week from now. I do hope he is good in Catalunya, cause if he's not, he'll be opening up a can of worms full of doubt methinks. In any case, he's got this year to show if he needs to go back to the drawing board or not.

 

[Pozzovivo]

I don't think he’s ever put in an impressive climbing performance without doing an altitude camp first

Yes, he has. Gaustatoppen in tour of norway and Classica San Sebastian for instance.

 

[Pozzovivo]

He just had an off-race after a good but not great ITT. It happens to every rider apart from Pog and Vingegaard.

Not worried at all. He is a crazy talent who is an excellent climber but sometimes struggles with that in the early season. Probably to do with his efficiancy on longer climbs - which will improve a lot after his next traning camp.

I think now is a good time to bet on him for Catalunya GC win. Just depends on Vingegaards shape there (if he is even doing it?).

 

[Cycling111]

He just had an off-race after a good but not great ITT. It happens to every rider barring Pog and Vingegaard.

Not worried at all. He is a crazy talent who is an excellent climber but sometimes struggles with that in the early season. Probably do to his efficiancy on longer climbs which will improve a lot after his next traning camp.

I think now is a good time to bet on him for Catalunya GC win. Just depends on Vingegaards shape there (if he is even doing it?).

I´d phrase it the other way around. He's a bad climber, but thanks to his talent and dedication, he has sometimes managed to climb very well.

That's why he hasn't won any of the seven major one-week races; because, being a poor climber, he needs more dedication than the rest. Such a great deal of dedication that he can only make it for one race a season, like the Tour de France.

 

[AmRacer]

He just had an off-race after a good but not great ITT. It happens to every rider barring Pog and Vingegaard.

Not worried at all. He is a crazy talent who is an excellent climber but sometimes struggles with that in the early season. Probably to do with his efficiancy on longer climbs - which will improve a lot after his next traning camp.

I think now is a good time to bet on him for Catalunya GC win. Just depends on Vingegaards shape there (if he is even doing it?).

I think he would prefer winning the UAE Tour instead of the lesser races.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I agree that remco rides real fast on the flat naturally whereas climbing takes effort and training.
I would not go so far as to say he's a bad climber.

I do find his interview this morning a bit strange. He's been found wanting on both summit finishes, yet he believed he could fight for the stage and podium. Was that hopeful thinking, believe in himself? Surely he must know, more than we, how he feels, how his numbers were, ... Looking at the data, he must have known today was going to be tough.

In any case , as I said i find it strangely encouraging he was not where i would want him to be today as well. That means Wednesday was not a blip, and it wasn't simply cause double digit climbs are hard for him, it is more a general case of having not enough climbing 'form'.

 

[Extinction]

I agree that remco rides real fast on the flat naturally whereas climbing takes effort and training.
I would not go so far as to say he's a bad climber.

He's not a bad climber, but has to deal with a wave of huge climbing talent. Long gone are the days when a Thomas can win the Tour.

 

[Snake]

Yes, he has. Gaustatoppen in tour of norway and Classica San Sebastian for instance.

Pretty sure he did altitude before both races and btw san sebastian has short climb.

 

[topcat]

In 2019, his first WT race, he also got 15th on Jebel Hafeet.

The phrase "back to square 1" comes to mind.

Circumstantial

 

[peterfin]

I´d phrase it the other way around. He's a bad climber, but thanks to his talent and dedication, he has sometimes managed to climb very well.

That's why he hasn't won any of the seven major one-week races; because, being a poor climber, he needs more dedication than the rest. Such a great deal of dedication that he can only make it for one race a season, like the Tour de France.

Dedication alone doesn't explian his climb results of 2022 and 2024. His progress stopped in 2025 when others stepped up. Maybe hitting that postal van was the crash too much, who knows. Anyway, we will see how this season goes (even years seem to be better as odd years for some reason) but lets just say that he has a lot of work to do. He shouldn't expect to win any race with steep climbs unless he shows dramatic progress.

 

[kingjr]

Yes, he has. Gaustatoppen in tour of norway and Classica San Sebastian for instance.

One minute ahead of Luke Plapp!