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

[Berniece]

He is known for saying one thing and changing completely during or after the race.

Which makes perfect sense if you aren’t able to make your first goal

 

[Red Rick]

Which makes perfect sense if you aren’t able to make your first goal

It's actually extra strange that he didn't do Sanremo for that reason too.

Going in talking about 'beating Pogacar and MvdP' then getting like 3rd in a sprint with Pidcock and Pogacar would have him totally go like "I showed them today"

 

[Ilmaestro99]

"It's my ambition to win such races. I've come close a few times, but it hasn't worked out yet. The only two stage races [I've won] are the UAE and the Tour de Pologne, but of course, those aren't races like Paris-Nice or the Volta a Catalunya.

"I'm self-critical enough to know that it's time to win one again."

He will try to fight for the win.

With 3 MTFs and no time trial, surely it's a bad one for him to try and win? Should have maybe done tirreno instead

 

[KoopaCycling]

With 3 MTFs and no time trial, surely it's a bad one for him to try and win? Should have maybe done tirreno instead

This race will prove a better measuring point though regardless.

 

[AlpRaid]

Also, the Poggio is just not technical enough to distance him more than a few seconds.

this is simply a fallacy that keeps getting repeated.

merckx won most of his 7 MSRs by rocking that descent (yes, he was considered the best descender of his time until Moser showed up).

remco would lose at least 15 seconds to Pidcock and Pog. He might then bring them back, but then he would never have beaten them in the sprint.

biggest concern, would be that remco would be pushed beyond his "safe-space" descending. he is a competitive mofo and a fighter. the very worst thing is that he ruin his season (and career?) trying to follow on that descent.

 

[AlpRaid]

don't see how that translates into matching up with you-know-who at LBL.

forget LBL. no one can compete against what we saw yesterday. no one.

best he can hope for at LBL is a distant 2nd like at worlds, euros and Lombardia. I would be absolutely shocked if anything else could happen. no one is in competition with what we saw yesterday. no one.

 

[James M]

forget LBL. no one can compete against what we saw yesterday. no one.

best he can hope for at LBL is a distant 2nd like at worlds, euros and Lombardia. I would be absolutely shocked if anything else could happen. no one is in competition with what we saw yesterday. no one.

Just facts. Good boy.

 

[AlpRaid]

Just facts. Good boy.

sure. see you in another part of the forum for the real conversation!

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

 

[canina82]

Regarding Catalunya, he is my number one favorite to win the first stage. Sprinters field is very weak so I expect a battle between Pidcock, Vingegaard and Remco.

 

[James M]

sure. see you in another part of the forum for the real conversation!

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I dont have any interest in going into ‘buhu my favourite rider didnt win threads.' Enough mental gymnastics here.

Also theres no shame coming second in Liege if Pogi race or Remcos performance in worlds last year for instance. Which too me rather impressive performance if you contextualize it.

 

[Berniece]

forget LBL. no one can compete against what we saw yesterday. no one.

best he can hope for at LBL is a distant 2nd like at worlds, euros and Lombardia. I would be absolutely shocked if anything else could happen. no one is in competition with what we saw yesterday. no one.

There is a case to be made that if he doesn’t perform here, winning LBL would be a stretch. But he’ll perform so we still have the possibility that he wins LBL

 

[Krzysztof_O]

There is a case to be made that if he doesn’t perform here, winning LBL would be a stretch. But he’ll perform so we still have the possibility that he wins LBL

I consider Remco more like a natural one-day racer than a stage-racer. Even if he underperforms here he should still be really strong in Liege (winning there would be difficult of course).

 

[YavorD]

There is a case to be made that if he doesn’t perform here, winning LBL would be a stretch. But he’ll perform so we still have the possibility that he wins LBL

Just curious, what do you consider "perform" and "doesn't perform"?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I dont have any interest in going into ‘buhu my favourite rider didnt win threads.' Enough mental gymnastics here.

Also theres no shame coming second in Liege if Pogi race or Remcos performance in worlds last year for instance. Which too me rather impressive performance if you contextualize it.

Remco's performances in WC and EC were very impressive. He would've crushed the competition if not for Pogacar. That's why in Liege he shouldn't have problems with getting top2 (unless Seixas' progress is huge also in 250 km+ races).

 

[KoopaCycling]

Regarding the remco interview i just saw, he seems quite humble about this one actually.
Talking mostly about getting a stage win, and possible helping Florian on a stage that suits Lipo more.
ofcourse Remco being remco, he also still got one eye on GC, not ruling it out entirely.
He seems most focused on gauging his improvement after last month training.

 

[AmRacer]

Regarding the remco interview i just saw, he seems quite humble about this one actually.
Talking mostly about getting a stage win, and possible helping Florian on a stage that suits Lipo more.
ofcourse Remco being remco, he also still got one eye on GC, not ruling it out entirely.

It's because there's no ITT.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It's because there's no ITT.

It's about climbing just like the Tour. This is a good race for Remco to test (and maybe improve) his climbing form. TTs are misleading regarding his form as he can win them even with a few kgs of additional fat.

 

[AmRacer]

It's about climbing just like the Tour. This is a good race for Remco to test (and maybe improve) his climbing form. TTs are misleading regarding his form as he can win them even with a few kgs of additional fat.

Yeah, but it's easier for him getting a good GC result if there's an ITT.

 

[Berniece]

Just curious, what do you consider "perform" and "doesn't perform"?

Top 3 in GC would be expected, winning would mean we can start dreaming

 

[Berniece]

I consider Remco more like a natural one-day racer than a stage-racer. Even if he underperforms here he should still be really strong in Liege (winning there would be difficult of course).

Me too, but if he would perform badly here, I wouldn't expect much this classics season. It's not like there's a lot of time left until AGR.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

remco would lose at least 15 seconds to Pidcock and Pog. He might then bring them back, but then he would never have beaten them in the sprint.

Could you explain a little bit about how you reach this number?

The Strava KOM in the Poggio downhill is 2 minutes 25 seconds (segment stops in the bottom before the last corner, so we can say maybe 2:40 before they reach the flat part. Pogacar did 2:34 this year (2:32 from 24 seems to be his best time), which is a fast time, but not something extraordinary. Losing "at least 15" seconds in a two and a half minute downhill with like 6 corners sounds incredibly much. Do you have any examples of other riders that have lost similar time from a small group down Poggio before?

 

[vappa]

Could you explain a little bit about how you reach this number?

The Strava KOM in the Poggio downhill is 2 minutes 25 seconds (segment stops in the bottom before the last corner, so we can say maybe 2:40 before they reach the flat part. Pogacar did 2:34 this year (2:32 from 24 seems to be his best time), which is a fast time, but not something extraordinary. Losing "at least 15" seconds in a two and a half minute downhill with like 6 corners sounds incredibly much. Do you have any examples of other riders that have lost similar time from a small group down Poggio before?

I don't see it either. Unless the roads are super slippery and Remco takes corners very slow and wrong lines it's not possible to lose 15s without some major mistake. Closer to 5 than 15 for sure

 

[YavorD]

Top 3 in GC would be expected, winning would mean we can start dreaming

I would also consider how he finishes in top 3.
If he is not too far from Vingegaard (assuming he wins) that would be great.
If he is more than 2 minutes behind, like Landa was in 2024, I wouldn't be impressed.

 

[Salvarani]

Me too, but if he would perform badly here, I wouldn't expect much this classics season. It's not like there's a lot of time left until AGR.

He should still be good in those races. Didnt stop him last season.

Ardennes is different. Races that suits him the best regardless together with ITTs.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Remco is often in great shape after altitude camps, so I think he can beat Vingegaard this week. Even making it a very close fight for the win should be enough to change the discourse around here.