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

[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.

 

[James M]

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

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.

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.

Preach. A leopard cant change its spots. And hes tried its whatever

He cant change his innate character. Year 4-5 and running on the same excuses is borderline embarassing I hope if its the same nonsense when the season is over we get to see him in even more classics next seasons.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

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.

The disproportion between his 5-minute and 20-minute uphill performances was already shown in the past. Practising those 5-minute climbs a lot will help him in Liege but against Pogi or Vingo at the Tour it's completely different story. He probably thinks improving his 5 minute power will help him match Pog's attacks (he mentioned it in the autumn) but the problem is he needs huge lactate steady state w/kg on top of that (associated with 30-60 minutes climbs).