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

[Gratemans]

Thread title should be changed to "He's the best if not for [insert excuse]"

 

[Cycling111]

I agree with the general consensus that he's not a natural climber and he will always fight an uphill battle trying to win grand tours. The 2022 vuelta was very very easy. One of the great attacking classics riders and time triallists of all time.

At the same time, I think people read a bit too much into a race in February. Vingegard was dropped by a bunch of teenagers on malhao last year and still won a GT

There's way too much disrespect to Quickstep in the last 2 years. They know how to get riders in shape, they are not amateurs. Bora meanwhile doesn't know what to do with all their new money. Remco has not joined some super team with better methods, that part is clear.

Well, Vingegard had more than enough credentials to think that Mahao's situation was somewhat anecdotal.

What you say about Quick-Step is true. Landa had a disastrous Tour in 2023 with Bahrain, and he was splendid with Quick-Step in 2024. Quick-Step didn't have climbers, but the only two good drivers they had for a GT finished third and fifth, being Landa's result a significant improvement compared to the previous year.

That's noticeable if we compare how their sprinters are doing elsewhere. The most extreme case is Jakobsen.But there are other cases like Gaviria. And even though these riders leave, they always succeed with someone new, now Magnier. Quick-Step also needs to restructure, surely they´ll win again with that type of rider that has always worked so well for them.

 

[peterfin]

Remco has not joined some super team with better methods, that part is clear.

He basically just started out with the team. RBH can't have a significant impact on his performance yet.

Actually, the net result might even be negative at the moment as they still need to build all the data and are testing stuff such as that 68T chainring Remco was complaining about.

 

[Unchained]

Thread title should be changed to "He's the best if not for [insert excuse]"

[ too hot]
[ too steep]
[ feel sick]
[ air conditioner didn't work]
[ no team support]
[ Roglic and Lipo not there to help]
[ gold accents on bike are heavy and not aero]
[ other riders are beating me, not showing me the respect that I think I deserve]

 

[AmRacer]

I completely agree with the last statement, but If I understood the news correctly, he also brought over "his own crew" from QS?

Yes, he did.

 

[houtdffan]

I completely agree with the last statement, but If I understood the news correctly, he also brought over "his own crew" from QS?

yeah, only he's even more insulated as he also brought Sven over from the Belgian national team

It's the same knuckleheads calling tactics for Remco that have called them in the past few years

 

[Berniece]

I completely agree with the last statement, but If I understood the news correctly, he also brought over "his own crew" from QS?

Just a mechanic, masseur and one DS. Besides the DS there’s nothing that specifically keeps him in performing similarly as with SOQ.

 

[jmdirt]

If I read topcats new thread correctly, they think that this is a one off for RE.

EDIT: I hope that he is right for 2026!

 

[Panda Claws]

The first pancakes are for the children anyway.

 

[Oldman]

I completely agree with the last statement, but If I understood the news correctly, he also brought over "his own crew" from QS?

It's ultimately up to the rider to integrate the best of his new situation. Repeating old advice and routines aren't necessarily bad but can be situationally horrible. He's preparing with a team that is financially and tactically dedicated to his both transitional success and his targeted success. None of it is an overnight panacea for his anxious uber-fans.
The very last thing he should do is second guess that team effort doing everything he should want by embracing the advice from entourage that provided his early success. That training regime peaked at two Olympic events that will seem like eons ago the next big climb he gets dropped...early.

 

[Oldman]

[ too hot]
[ too steep]
[ feel sick]
[ air conditioner didn't work]
[ no team support]
[ Roglic and Lipo not there to help]
[ gold accents on bike are heavy and not aero]
[ other riders are beating me, not showing me the respect that I think I deserve]

Missed this addition:
[Roglic and Lipo weren't there when I needed them because they followed ___________up the road. When my seatpost caused cramps, accentuated by bad climate control in my home's bedroom.]

 

[veganrob]

Decathlon set the pace that broke up the peloton

There are 14 riders ahead, only one from UAE , and riders from at least 10 other teams.

When Remco dominates the time trial, whoever finishes 15th can't use that as an excuse.
You can't use that argumente today. There are two Tudor riders there.

1	del Toro Isaac	UAE Team Emirates - XRG	60	50	10″	3:27:54
2	Plapp Luke	Team Jayco AlUla	40	30	6″	0:12
3	Gall Felix	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	30	18	4″	0:21
4	Tiberi Antonio	Bahrain - Victorious	25	13		0:31
5	Johannessen Tobias Halland	Uno-X Mobility	20	10		0:36
6	Nordhagen Jørgen	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	15	7		,,
7	Gee-West Derek	Lidl - Trek	10	4		,,
8	Tejada Harold	XDS Astana Team	8	3		,,
9	Gaudu David	Groupama - FDJ United	5	2		0:48
10	Storer Michael	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2	1		,,
11	Svestad-Bårdseng Embret	INEOS Grenadiers				,,
12	Van Eetvelt Lennert	Lotto Intermarché				,,
13	Munton Byron	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling				,,
14	Rondel Mathys	Tudor Pro Cycling Team				0:52
15	Evenepoel Remco	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe				,

But that looks like a who’s who of cycling.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Remco saying he had a cold this week. His UAE performances would make some sense then (is it a valid excuse?)

“I hadn't fully digested those first races… I was also a bit ill” - Remco Evenepoel looks for answers as UAE Tour disappointment continues on Jebel Hafeet

For the second time this week at the UAE Tour 2026, Remco Evenepoel was forced to explain rather than celebrate. Dropped again on the decisive slopes of Jebel Hafeet, the Belgian admitted in a post-st...

cyclinguptodate.com

 

[AmRacer]

Remco saying he had a cold this week. His UAE performances would make some sense then (is it a valid excuse?)

“I hadn't fully digested those first races… I was also a bit ill” - Remco Evenepoel looks for answers as UAE Tour disappointment continues on Jebel Hafeet

For the second time this week at the UAE Tour 2026, Remco Evenepoel was forced to explain rather than celebrate. Dropped again on the decisive slopes of Jebel Hafeet, the Belgian admitted in a post-st...

cyclinguptodate.com

But that is not an excuse

 

[Salvarani]

I feel like we heard a lot of things in the past few days and I dont know what to believe anymore. It is getting stranger and stranger day by day.

All in all, one can only say it was bad and we will see what happens next.

With altitude, he should be better for Catalunya in a month. He does well there, then he should be on pace to be in good form for Ardennes.

 

[Berniece]

Remco saying he had a cold this week. His UAE performances would make some sense then (is it a valid excuse?)

“I hadn't fully digested those first races… I was also a bit ill” - Remco Evenepoel looks for answers as UAE Tour disappointment continues on Jebel Hafeet

For the second time this week at the UAE Tour 2026, Remco Evenepoel was forced to explain rather than celebrate. Dropped again on the decisive slopes of Jebel Hafeet, the Belgian admitted in a post-st...

cyclinguptodate.com

He said himself it wasn’t an excuse, so no I guess. Also I read he had a cold before UAE, not during

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Havent watched UAE, is Remco fat or just useless?

Dont know about fat, but definitively useless. Barely scraping a top 10 in UAE is pathetic.

 

[Netserk]

Remco saying he had a cold this week. His UAE performances would make some sense then (is it a valid excuse?)

“I hadn't fully digested those first races… I was also a bit ill” - Remco Evenepoel looks for answers as UAE Tour disappointment continues on Jebel Hafeet

For the second time this week at the UAE Tour 2026, Remco Evenepoel was forced to explain rather than celebrate. Dropped again on the decisive slopes of Jebel Hafeet, the Belgian admitted in a post-st...

cyclinguptodate.com

new interview new excuse

if he was affected by illness before the race, why blame the first climb on the ac

 

[canina82]

new interview new excuse

if he was affected by illness before the race, why blame the first climb on the ac

This dude has a problem with accountability.
Regarding Bora, why are they doing the same thing as Quickstep and wait for 2027 to judge if Remco needs to lose weight or not?
This dude should be 63 kg already. I fear they will make Remco to "waste" 2 seasons to find his best program (which I believe is racing all monuments) and see he is not a top 5 GT rider anymore.

 

[Jan the Man]

I would not read too much into UAE, certainly not for likely form in the Ardennes say. However I think everybody would have expected him to be more competitive on the MTF with reference to some of those who finished ahead of him.

 

[Berniece]

new interview new excuse

if he was affected by illness before the race, why blame the first climb on the ac

Again, cold was before UAE Tour and he said not an excuse. It’s like you deliberately try to shape the story into what it’s not for your own agenda

 

[Netserk]

Again, cold was before UAE Tour and he said not an excuse. It’s like you deliberately try to shape the story into what it’s not for your own agenda

yeah i wrote " before the race "

so he knew as much after the first climb as today about his illness

yet he only tacks on a new excuse after the previous excuse expired . if it was the illness all along , why not say that after the first climb instead of muh ac

 

[Berniece]

yeah i wrote " before the race "

so he knew as much after the first climb as today about his illness

yet he only tacks on a new excuse after the previous excuse expired . if it was the illness all along , why not say that after the first climb instead of muh ac

Because it never was the illness, that’s what he is saying

 

[AmRacer]

I would not read too much into UAE, certainly not for likely form in the Ardennes say. However I think everybody would have expected him to be more competitive on the MTF with reference to some of those who finished ahead of him.

But he has won the UAE Tour and LBL same season.

 

[peterfin]

This dude has a problem with accountability.
Regarding Bora, why are they doing the same thing as Quickstep and wait for 2027 to judge if Remco needs to lose weight or not?
This dude should be 63 kg already. I fear they will make Remco to "waste" 2 seasons to find his best program (which I believe is racing all monuments) and see he is not a top 5 GT rider anymore.

Why has he accountability issues? Because you think he makes up stuff to avoid responsability? That's just not true. He obviously looks for answers why he could beat guys two weeks ago that now gain more than a minute on him. Regardless, he does conclude that he is just not good enough this week. He will feel bad because he is a team-player and he let the team down. He will punish himself during training to become better. RBH values him exactly because he has that accountability and mentality that has the potential to lift a whole team.