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

[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.

 

[Netserk]

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

he cast the magic spell " but its no excuse " , thus negating what he said

~the dog ate my homework ... but its no excuse

 

[canina82]

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.

This is where we disagree. So he got a cold before UAE Tour but still said he would want to win 2 stages + GC, now after the AC excuse, he uses his ilness to justify his level and his loss.
Yes, he doesn't know what his accountability. He does the same thing over and over again.

 

[Berniece]

he cast the magic spell " but its no excuse " , thus negating what he said

~the dog ate my homework ... but its no excuse

Yes, that’s how it works. When you something isn’t so, you mean it isn’t so.

 

[Berniece]

He uses his ilness to justify his level and his loss

No, he doesn’t.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Shades of apologising to all those offended

 

[Red Rick]

The issue isn't really suggesting a reason for poor performance, it's suggesting many, after the fact, after talking a big game before the race.

We've had so far

1. Air conditioning
2. Didn't train long climbs yet
3. Tired from previous races
4. Illness

He added on as extra cope

5. It's only February and this doesn't really matter.

Fans have added on top that

6. He's not on climbing weight
7. He hasn't been to altitude
8. He hasn't adapted to heat

All this while also

9. Saying before the race he was aiming to win 2 stages + the GC
10. Saying he was doing the same watts as when he won UAE previous time (which I guess is in training before, but he should really know the field in general does higher watts
11. Acting like he was cramping the when he first started to go backwards.

 

[Peyresourde]

One thing I am always very sceptical of is riders saying they did the same/more watts than before. And not just because I think they are using it as an excuse.
But:
- Do they really have an exact sense for the relationship of time and watts? A 5 minute difference at the same watts is very big.
- Are they doing 5-10 watts less and just lump it into the same bucket (not much difference=same?)
- Power meters are inaccurate
- Do they have the same weight?
- What are the race circumstances?

They might even think themselves that they are doing the same/better than before. But these differences easily add up to 1+ minute climbing time, so I absolutely do not trust these riders even if they think they are honest.

In any case, yesterday he absolutely did not do the same watts as 2023 unless he is drastically heavier right now. With his 2023 watts he would have absolute bare minimun been with Plapp and probably even considerably faster.

 

[peterfin]

This is where we disagree. So he got a cold before UAE Tour but still said he would want to win 2 stages + GC, now after the AC excuse, he uses his ilness to justify his level and his loss.
Yes, he doesn't know what his accountability. He does the same thing over and over again.

I disagree. Yes, he wanted to win 2 stages and GC prior to the start. He has the history to make that statement without looking stupid. Regarding his loss: he said he is not good enough. He may be thinking out loud what added to his major drop in performance but that doesn't take away the fact that he is not good enough. If there is a lack of accountability then it's his DS and others of the team that should give him clues with data why his drop in performance was so huge. He rightfully should be concerned.

 

[Red Rick]

I disagree. Yes, he wanted to win 2 stages and GC prior to the start. He has the history to make that statement without looking stupid. Regarding his loss: he said he is not good enough. He may be thinking out loud what added to his major drop in performance but that doesn't take away the fact that he is not good enough. If there is a lack of accountability then it's his DS and others of the team that should give him clues with data why his drop in performance was so huge. He rightfully should be concerned.

I think both parties look silly.

For me it starts with why does he even race this race, and why does he have the schedule he has. It really looks to me like this January/February racing block was there to get a few early wins and then test himself in UAE vs probably Vingegaard where losing is okay.

They clearly did not schedule or train to be good in UAE. They thought he could get away with not doing that and still getting a result. But then why are you there other than collecting the appearance fee?

To a larger extent, the idea of not working on long climbs before March is completely ridiculous if you say your main aim is to compete for the Tour de France win. You cite Catalunya as your big spring target (lol to start with) and then you only start preparing for that like 3 weeks before? Come on.

Currently it looks like they signed Evenepoel (and Roglic before) because they were the biggest names available, not because they had a plan for them. If you want to win the Tour, Evenepoel and Roglic are the most overpriced long shots you can get. Evenepoel especially comes at a huge premium because of his results in TTs and one day races, and then they decide to minimize the ROI they get from his greatest asset. Absolutely genius.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

I half expect he'll show up in Tour shape come Catalunya.

I mean, this dude Remco got embarrassed on two MTFs and then got punked by Teddy Murks' lieutenant in the final stage of the UAE Tour. Now you know that's not gonna sit well with him.

 

[Cycling111]

I half expect he'll show up in Tour shape come Catalunya.

I mean, this dude Remco got embarrassed on two MTFs and then got punked by Teddy Murks' lieutenant in the final stage of the UAE Tour. Now you know that's not gonna sit well with him.

And other 14 riders...
What should concern you is not that Del Toro beats Remco, but 13 other riders, including 2 Tudor cyclists whose highest aspiration in the Tour with Storer is a stage win or a hard-fought top 10 finish.

 

[Peyresourde]

I think both parties look silly.

For me it starts with why does he even race this race, and why does he have the schedule he has. It really looks to me like this January/February racing block was there to get a few early wins and then test himself in UAE vs probably Vingegaard where losing is okay.

They clearly did not schedule or train to be good in UAE. They thought he could get away with not doing that and still getting a result. But then why are you there other than collecting the appearance fee?

To a larger extent, the idea of not working on long climbs before March is completely ridiculous if you say your main aim is to compete for the Tour de France win. You cite Catalunya as your big spring target (lol to start with) and then you only start preparing for that like 3 weeks before? Come on.

Currently it looks like they signed Evenepoel (and Roglic before) because they were the biggest names available, not because they had a plan for them. If you want to win the Tour, Evenepoel and Roglic are the most overpriced long shots you can get. Evenepoel especially comes at a huge premium because of his results in TTs and one day races, and then they decide to minimize the ROI they get from his greatest asset. Absolutely genius.

His talk about training for 5 min/explosive efforts when his stated goals are Catalunya and the Tour is ridiculous. Just as Vingegaard putting on extra muscle for last years Tour when it may have been the the longest average duration for the mountain top finishes in Tour history.

Either these statements are just lies, or they are not looking at the parcours of races they target?

I still would not be surprised to see him in good/great climbing shape in a month.

 

[Red Rick]

I half expect he'll show up in Tour shape come Catalunya.

I mean, this dude Remco got embarrassed on two MTFs and then got punked by Teddy Murks' lieutenant in the final stage of the UAE Tour. Now you know that's not gonna sit well with him.

Possibly.

But it would be the similar pattern to previous springs, so in all it really puts a huge dent into the "everything will change at Red Bull"

 

[Netserk]

Either these statements are just lies, or they are not looking at the parcours of races they target?

you can pretty easily see the difference in muscle mass over the years . 2024 stood out

 

[Red Rick]

His talk about training for 5 min/explosive efforts when his stated goals are Catalunya and the Tour is ridiculous. Just as Vingegaard putting on extra muscle for last years Tour when it may have been the the longest average duration for the mountain top finishes in Tour history.

Either these statements are just lies, or they are not looking at the parcours of races they target?

I still would not be surprised to see him in good/great climbing shape in a month.

IIRC Vingegaard had lost muscle mass in 2024 from crash and rehabilitation, and they wanted to get back to his normal Tour weight, but I could be wrong.

They did talk a lot about working on explosivity in relation to the hilly stages.

 

[Peyresourde]

IIRC Vingegaard had lost muscle mass in 2024 from crash and rehabilitation, and they wanted to get back to his normal Tour weight, but I could be wrong.

They did talk a lot about working on explosivity in relation to the hilly stages.

Maybe they just wanted to get back to his 2023 muscle mass, but his explosivity was clearly better in 2025 than 2023. So they must have worked extra on it (maybe at the cost of his long climbing). The hilly stages were still pretty irrelevant compared to the extremely long mountain top finishes.

I guess their hope was to be ahead before Hautacam and then just cover every attack and sit on.

 

[Pozzovivo]

While weight is always a relevant topic in the Remco thread I think we can discuss Vingegaards tour prep in his thread, @Armchair Cyclist

 

[hayneplane]

It would be a lot easier to accept the litany of excuses/explanations if he had also flunked the ITT and lost to Tarling.

As it is it looks like they have managed to emphasise what he is already very good at whilst neglecting the things he needs to be a consistent top 5 Grand Tour finisher.

Getting clapped by Byron Munton and Mathys Rondel on both MTF is alarmingly bad for someone hoping to podium a grand tour this year.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

And other 14 riders...
What should concern you is not that Del Toro beats Remco, but 13 other riders, including 2 Tudor cyclists whose highest aspiration in the Tour with Storer is a stage win or a hard-fought top 10 finish.

I was referring to today's (flat) stage, where Del Toro took it upon himself to reel him in.

But yes, Remco's climbing level is definitely concerning. I have Evenepoel on my CQ team and sensed there would be trouble after his (to me) less than impressive early season wins. I stated as much in the CQ game thread back then.

That was before he dropped Almeida, but even so... short climbs are not Almeida's forte. Remco didn't seem much stronger than Pellizzari back then. A slightly stronger field or Pellizzari on a different team = probably no Remco road stage win.

And that was his most impressive win in 2026 up until that point.

So yeah, I didn't understand the hype to begin with.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

The issue isn't really suggesting a reason for poor performance, it's suggesting many, after the fact, after talking a big game before the race.

We've had so far

1. Air conditioning
2. Didn't train long climbs yet
3. Tired from previous races
4. Illness

He added on as extra cope

5. It's only February and this doesn't really matter.

Fans have added on top that

6. He's not on climbing weight
7. He hasn't been to altitude
8. He hasn't adapted to heat

All this while also

9. Saying before the race he was aiming to win 2 stages + the GC
10. Saying he was doing the same watts as when he won UAE previous time (which I guess is in training before, but he should really know the field in general does higher watts
11. Acting like he was cramping the when he first started to go backwards.

It almost seems as if a cataclysm of biblical proportions had hit Remco. It will be forgotten in a month when he shows Vingo how to climb properly in Catalunya.