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

[Extinction]

He want's to be at this weight for the Ardennes and it is also good for ITT.

I don't think being lighter for Liege will hurt his chances against Pogacar. Actually it's the opposite. He should I think at the moment stop being concerned with ranking number one TTer and start being competitive on the long cols, if he wants to win the Tour. His TT, besides, will never become bad, but he won't win WT stage races on his TT if he gets shelled out the back on the climbs.

 

[canina82]

the weight obsession on here is utterly ridiculous. He's not fat, he's just not good enough.
Pretty sure his teams and coaches havent been overlooking his weight his entire pro career

According to pcs he weighs less than pogacar already (not sure where everyone gets all these weight numbers from)

He just needs more watts

PCS is not a good source. However, at what point is Remco considered a very powerful rider or just a rider who can be really aero and save a lot of watts compared to others? When it goes uphill, Remco can still produce decent watts but when he needs to maintain for a long period those watts, he falls apart. The ability to sustain a fair amount of watts for a long period is just not there. I believe he is not that powerful like most people think, he is just so much better when we talk about aerodynamics.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I think his supper body could lose some muscle/weight. Maybe he's naturally stocky and not much can be done, but that is were the biggest gain can be made in a healthy way imo.

 

[veganrob]

I don't buy that. If other riders can visibly ride skinnier throughout the year, I don't see why Remco cannot other than he lacks proper guidance. If I'm wrong, which may well be the case, it's time he at least tries to race the season overall much leaner. As the formula that's been used so far, considering his lofty ambitions, surely aint working. At this point, he's really got nothing to lose and tempus fugit.

Or he simply does not want to lose much more weight. Which may be true. In which case he is stuck where he is at.

 

[Berniece]

PCS is not a good source. However, at what point is Remco considered a very powerful rider or just a rider who can be really aero and save a lot of watts compared to others? When it goes uphill, Remco can still produce decent watts but when he needs to maintain for a long period those watts, he falls apart. The ability to sustain a fair amount of watts for a long period is just not there. I believe he is not that powerful like most people think, he is just so much better when we talk about aerodynamics.

That you can say this with a straight face after seeing his fall season is bonkers to me. Sure he was never as good as Pogacar, but after that he was much better than the rest. He showed that at WC, UEC and Lombardia. All long, hard races.

 

[canina82]

That you can say this with a straight face after seeing his fall season is bonkers to me. Sure he was never as good as Pogacar, but after that he was much better than the rest. He showed that at WC, UEC and Lombardia. All long, hard races.

I said long mountains. In any part of my post I questioned his level in hilly classics. There, he is by far the second best and probably the only one who can threat Pogacar in the future.

 

[Berniece]

I said long mountains. In any part of my post I questioned his level in hilly classics. There, he is by far the second best and probably the only one who can threat Pogacar in the future.

Like Plateau de Beille? Or Passo di Ganda?

 

[Salvarani]

That you can say this with a straight face after seeing his fall season is bonkers to me. Sure he was never as good as Pogacar, but after that he was much better than the rest. He showed that at WC, UEC and Lombardia. All long, hard races.

Nobody questions his ability in one-day races.

 

[canina82]

Like Plateau de Beille? Or Passo di Ganda?

Passo di Ganda:
1 - he didn't drop Storer
2 - GdL is a classic. Not a mountain stage done after several mountain stages.
3 - he lost more time to Pogacar than he gained to Storer in GdL

Why are you giving PdB as an example and you ignore every single time he imploded in long and hard mountains? Are you telling me Remco can do it? Yes, of course! He can climb with the very best sometimes but consistently? No, he can't.
But time will tell this season about his climbing ability. In one month we will see where he is after an altitude training camp and probably 2 less kilos.

 

[Cycling111]

Apparently I was wrong about Tiberi, really thought I read that. My bad.

Del Toro did prepare extensively for UAE Tour, not that all of it matters, Evenepoel just wasn’t good enough.

Almeida hasn't done any high-altitude training, and on the climbs in Algarve he's been at a similar level to his performance in other races.
Remco was in better shape than Almeida; his problem is climbing.

 

[Berniece]

Why are you giving PdB as an example and you ignore every single time he imploded in long and hard mountains? Are you telling me Remco can do it? Yes, of course! He can climb with the very best sometimes but consistently? No, he can't.
But time will tell this season about his climbing ability. In one month we will see where he is after an altitude training camp and probably 2 less kilos.

Because at TDF 2024 he showed he could do it consistently... Same at Vuelta 2022. Only issue he had was after his crash.

 

[Berniece]

Almeida hasn't done any high-altitude training, and on the climbs in Algarve he's been at a similar level to his performance in other races.
Remco was in better shape than Almeida; his problem is climbing.

Remco was at 85% at Mallorca/Valencia according to himself. We'll see at Catalunya if Evenepoel still has issues with climbing. More than enough multi-mountain stages there.

 

[AmRacer]

Because at TDF 2024 he showed he could do it consistently... Same at Vuelta 2022. Only issue he had was after his crash.

Consistently means more then one time e.g. TDF 2024.

 

[Divergence]

Actually Pogacar said that exactly 2 yrs ago after RvV when asked whether he would do Roubaixin the future. He said he’d have to put on some more weight first. Of course he could have been joking around, but he said it.
Re: the 2nd bolded statement, it’s fruitless to discuss that outside of the clinic.

PR is an interesting race to watch, even though it is as flat as a pancake. In that sense it is pretty unique in the calendar. And if doing well in PR is a priority, then, by all means, go to the gym and get jacked up. Mind you, being as lean as possible is still an advantage, but maybe adding muscles on the eyelids would make some difference. It is a race where weight makes very little difference.