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

[peterfin]

Remco said that he "pushed his values" but it "goes faster and faster each year". I read this as: I reached my training values and expected that it was good enoug for the UAE tour. He does have a point here. The last few years the UAE team has raised the bar. The climb times speak for themselves. It's not a race he can win anymore without proper altitude training.

 

[Peyresourde]

There was a lot that puzzled me about Vingegaard in the summer, from the Dauphine to the Tour there were several off days despite a fresh run in and the comms coming out of the team pretending he was better than the year before, which he didn’t seem to be, despite coming back from a serious injury that year. Now they tell us he was at his best in the 2025 Vuelta despite getting dropped by Pidcock on a stage and losing to Almeida/Pellezzari on other mountain stages. He also looked completely average in Algarve, doesn’t quite add up.

he was certainly strong on stage 9. It was a shallow climb with tailwind (uncertain watt calculation), so it could have possibly been the best performance of his career if we stretch the imagination a bit.

But before that stage he was not that good (he did not just not try, he also mentioned it in interviews) and later on he did not have any great performance either (ok, he was ill). So 1 great stage and they say he was at his best?

Remco said that he "pushed his values" but it "goes faster and faster each year". I read this as: I reached my training values and expected that it was good enoug for the UAE tour. He does have a point here. The last few years the UAE team has raised the bar. The climb times speak for themselves. It's not a race he can win anymore without proper altitude training.

And IMO it is almost impossible that Remco today pushed the same watts as in 2023 on the same climb. Look at all the guys he has been beaten by.

 

[Netserk]

But before that stage he was not that good (he did not just not try, he also mentioned it in interviews)

thats new to me

 

[Cycling111]

2022 Vuelta route barly had high mountains. It had climbs that suited someone like Remco.

2023 route had Tourmalet and Angliru. Those two days alone had more mountains than the previous year.

In general, the Vuelta is the GT with the easier mountains. That's why riders who haven't been able to overcome the Alpine stages in the Giro or in the Tour have been able to win the Vuelta.

The positive thing for him is that this year they've designed a very weak route for the Tour. The negative side is is that some will be close to the podium , but in the 2 tough stages they could suffer a significant morale blow.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I would say that a combo of fatigue, accumulated from races building up to UAE and as a cherry on top the last ITT effort, that plus non specific training for stage racing are consistent with performance on both climbs. I feel that Remco will improve deeper in the season in terms of stage racing and especially in regards to climbing.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Remco said that he "pushed his values" but it "goes faster and faster each year". I read this as: I reached my training values and expected that it was good enoug for the UAE tour. He does have a point here. The last few years the UAE team has raised the bar. The climb times speak for themselves. It's not a race he can win anymore without proper altitude training.

I will wait for the full year before passing judgement on Remco. I think his current program is just fine if he hopes to make progress. Him saying he pushed his values but it goes faster each year, makes me convinced he indeed believed he could compete for the victory in his current shape as he did 3 years ago. The fact that everyone goes faster and faster is frightening for various reasons.In the long run it may be better that Remco just focuses on being the best he can be without wondering too much how others are getting faster. In the hope that remco gets his watts the right way. But if that's the truth, the only place where competition is still viable is TT and one day race.

 

[Cycling111]

I would say that a combo of fatigue, accumulated from races building up to UAE and as a cherry on top the last ITT effort, that plus non specific training for stage racing are consistent with performance on both climbs. I feel that Remco will improve deeper in the season in terms of stage racing and especially in regards to climbing.

If this is the case, it would have been prudent not to say that he had gone to UAE to win two stages and the GC.

 

[BubbaChuck]

Was Remco really sleeping in altitude tent before this race.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If this is the case, it would have been prudent not to say that he had gone to UAE to win two stages and the GC.

It comes with the status, you don't have a luxury to say i am not going for GC, regardless of the form.

 

[AmRacer]

Remco said that he "pushed his values" but it "goes faster and faster each year". I read this as: I reached my training values and expected that it was good enoug for the UAE tour. He does have a point here. The last few years the UAE team has raised the bar. The climb times speak for themselves. It's not a race he can win anymore without proper altitude training.

Sounds like Thomas de Gendt.

 

[Peyresourde]

thats new to me

I think he said after his win on stage 9 that he felt 'super great today' and mentioned on a prior stage that he did not feel that amazing. I may be reading between the lines a bit, but that is the impression I got.

 

[kingjr]

Remco said that he "pushed his values" but it "goes faster and faster each year". I read this as: I reached my training values and expected that it was good enoug for the UAE tour. He does have a point here. The last few years the UAE team has raised the bar. The climb times speak for themselves. It's not a race he can win anymore without proper altitude training.

Why doesn't he just ask van Wilder what's going on, given that he's now being dropped by him as well.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It was a really disappointing race by Evenepoel. He needs to step up considerably, otherwise focusing mainly on the Tour makes no sense (MSR and Flandres say "hi").

 

[Red Rick]

Also, Pogacar has never won Milan-San Remo.
Lo Squalo > Pogi

Will always be so in my heart.

Winning with will, cunning and heart >> "lol i haz 582 terawatt "I win button""

 

[Krzysztof_O]

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?

It's actually the opposite. This is what Zak Dempster from RBH said about Remco before this race:

"You want to measure yourself against the best, but actually, the primary reason why he wanted to do UAE originally was that he was thinking the Pogačar would be there. So we're not avoiding anyone"

Maybe Remco isn't that disappointed anymore that Teddy isn't there.

 

[Extinction]

But Thomas was the strongest climber in that Tour. It would be better to refer to Dumoulin's Giro win for instance. Where he was not the best climber but best overall.

The point was that if Thomas is your best climber, the overall climbing talent is weak. Clearly that is no longer the case.

 

[Red Rick]

1. Too much emphasis on weight
2. Too much emphasis on altitude.

It's probably a combinatino of not training specifically enough for this (not training long climbs), fatigue from an usually heavy January/February racing block, and possibly simply a lack of heat adaptation.

Weight doesn't make sense because if he were 2-3ks lighter his climbing performance still wouldn't be great, and altitude doesn't make sense cause you don't need altitude to do good 20 minute efforts at low altitude.

But while even I would be willing to accept reasons for a diminished performance, the degree of underperformance is exceptionally worrying.

 

[Cycling111]

It's actually the opposite. This is what Zak Dempster from RBH said about Remco before this race:

"You want to measure yourself against the best, but actually, the primary reason why he wanted to do UAE originally was that he was thinking the Pogačar would be there. So we're not avoiding anyone"

Maybe Remco isn't that disappointed anymore that Teddy isn't there.

Remco announced his entire except for the UAE Tour and FW, and this happened after UAE announced their riders schedule.

 

[Red Rick]

It's actually the opposite. This is what Zak Dempster from RBH said about Remco before this race:

"You want to measure yourself against the best, but actually, the primary reason why he wanted to do UAE originally was that he was thinking the Pogačar would be there. So we're not avoiding anyone"

Maybe Remco isn't that disappointed anymore that Teddy isn't there.

This is just a lie, solely based on the fact that Roglic is now basically scheduled to go against Pogacar in Romandie and Switserland, while he's basically the god-king of dodging Pogacar in stage races. He's been forced to forfeit his sceptre to Evenepoel.

 

[Extinction]

I'm a Remco fan, but I have to say I'm done with the excuses. The man is a limited climber at best.

His best GT performance left him more than 9mins behind Pogacar in TDF 24.

The amount of times we hit the proper climbs and we see him blowing up is unfair for him to endure. He is an outstanding TTer, one-day racer and brilliant at long range attacks on hilly terrain.

The man is NOT a climber. He is sacrificing results and potential victories in other races by chasing a dream of winning the Tour de France. He has ZERO chance of doing that.

Smoked in the UAE climbs, Meltdown in the Tour last year, Meltdown in the Vuelta in 23, didn't finish the Giro in 21 or 23, falls away in TDS stages once the road goes up.

Yet I hear all this tripe that he needs altitude camps, he needs to lose weight, he's not dialled in, he has no base, the AC was smashed. The man is killing himself trying to be someone he's not.

Hard to argue with this.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

1. Too much emphasis on weight
2. Too much emphasis on altitude.

It's probably a combinatino of not training specifically enough for this (not training long climbs), fatigue from an usually heavy January/February racing block, and possibly simply a lack of heat adaptation.

Weight doesn't make sense because if he were 2-3ks lighter his climbing performance still wouldn't be great, and altitude doesn't make sense cause you don't need altitude to do good 20 minute efforts at low altitude.

But while even I would be willing to accept reasons for a diminished performance, the degree of underperformance is exceptionally worrying.

He was really good on that Valencia 2 km wall. It seems that for him 5-minute climb vs 20-minute climb makes bigger difference than for other climbers (it's mainly aerobic system in both cases).

 

[Red Rick]

He was really good on that Valencia 2 km wall. It seems that for him 5-minute climb vs 20-minute climb makes bigger difference than for other climbers (it's mainly aerobic system in both cases).

I think that is fairly heavily down to specificity of uphill riding and how the load it slightly different at a muscular level. Evenepoel has always been good enough at 5 minute steeper climbs even when getting clapped on really long stuff.

 

[Hugh Januss]

It's actually the opposite. This is what Zak Dempster from RBH said about Remco before this race:

"You want to measure yourself against the best, but actually, the primary reason why he wanted to do UAE originally was that he was thinking the Pogačar would be there. So we're not avoiding anyone"

Maybe Remco isn't that disappointed anymore that Teddy isn't there.

Well he still had Del Toro and Tiberi for measuring tapes. Lucky!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I think that is fairly heavily down to specificity of uphill riding and how the load it slightly different at a muscular level. Evenepoel has always been good enough at 5 minute steeper climbs even when getting clapped on really long stuff.

Yes, I'm recalling some superb efforts on muritos by him i.e. in San Sebastian. It seems that his VO2max utilization percentage near the anaerobic threshold is smaller than average (while he has a very high VO2max).

 

[Cycling111]

So altitude training wasn't the problem for San Remo.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2025135599900897418

View: https://x.com/cirogazzetta/status/2025135599900897418?s=20