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

[houtdffan]

In his Sporza interview he hinted at riding Roubaix next week but apparantly it's not decided yet.

of course Remco is riding Roubaix. a one off Flanders then back to altitude makes zero sense (unless he has a surprise giro start)

 

[Berniece]

of course Remco is riding Roubaix. a one off Flanders then back to altitude makes zero sense (unless he has a surprise giro start)

Not sure what Vermeersch and Van Dijke think about that. Then again, Roubaix is a bit of a sole endeavour anyway. Vermeersch rode well there even when MVDP was his leader

 

[houtdffan]

Not sure what Vermeersch and Van Dijke think about that. Then again, Roubaix is a bit of a sole endeavour anyway. Vermeersch rode well there even when MVDP was his leader

Vermeesch would have 1 job

Deliver Remco to the front at Arenberg and tell Remco to TT to the velodrome

 

[Red Rick]

Roubaix sounds fake as hell to me.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Beautiful race, and he rode very well. I mean staying at 20s for so long against those two… very well done.

I expected more from him, and I have no clue why he feels the need to put in any work, but it wouldn’t have influenced the race. This is a good first step for winning cobbled monuments. Hope he does more of them next year, and takes a step forward. He isn’t missing a lot, and this is a good first step.

I'm not quite following, both statements are bit contrary to each other.

In any case , judging from his recent interviews, he'll ride more one day races next year i think.

 

[jmdirt]

It's funny folks saying Remco's bad on the cobbles, when he got third, not fifty-third. Ok, sure, he wasn't as good as Pogi or MvdP, but those are the absolute tops on the pavé. He was at least as good as WvA and Peterson, so he absolutely doesn't suck. Roubaix is a different beast, but those are the guys he can try to follow

He struggled more on the cobbles than the other top 10, but he is so good on everything else that he still ended 3rd.

As to the WvA and MP comparison, they were 'better' on the cobles than RE (not at least as good).

RE can improve on the cobbles though. Even if he doesn't go a lot faster, if he can conserve more energy that would be huge.

 

[jmdirt]

Yes, both of those riders

Well, he's not winning LBL against Pog. I just think it's time to try new things. Everbody can crash at Roubaix. If that's the main prohibitive issue then nobody should race it, but that's ridiculous. And if he crashes maybe it's just a banged up body, nothing serious. Maybe he can achieve to 10. Was Colbreli such a phenomenon on the pavé? Is Top-Gun Ganna a master at it? And yet they got good results.

Yes, SC and FG are considerably better riding over the stones than RE is NOW. Can RE he better? Of course.

 

[AmRacer]

He struggled more on the cobbles than the other top 10, but he is so good on everything else that he still ended 3rd.

As to the WvA and MP comparison, they were 'better' on the cobles than RE (not at least as good).

RE can improve on the cobbles though. Even if he doesn't go a lot faster, if he can conserve more energy that would be huge.

But was it the cobbles or was it the steep incline

 

[Brullnux]

But was it the cobbles or was it the steep incline

There was one point where he was about 3 seconds behind the front two before they entered Mariaborrestraat (flat cobbles). He came out 8s behind despite being on 'his' territory. I think it is, at least in part, the cobbles. You could that he was noticeably less smooth, even on the Taaienberg. There's a lot of room for improvement there, which is a good thing for his future chances.

Ganna is an interesting comparison because in 2023 he absolutely lost out in part because of his ability on the cobbles. Let's see this year how much he's improved

 

[Extinction]

He struggled more on the cobbles than the other top 10, but he is so good on everything else that he still ended 3rd.

As to the WvA and MP comparison, they were 'better' on the cobles than RE (not at least as good).

RE can improve on the cobbles though. Even if he doesn't go a lot faster, if he can conserve more energy that would be huge.

I'd say, given Remco hung longer with Pog and MvdP on the Kwaremont and then held his third place till the end, he qualifies as having been "as good" on the cobbles today as WvA and Peterson in his first Ronde.

 

[Salvarani]

But was it the cobbles or was it the steep incline

Didnt see much issue on the cobbles.

He just had to let go and MVDP passed him.

He then got killed on the false flat or slightly uphill section, where he got really close but didnt make it. Pog upping the pace, looking back, as Remco buried himself but having to sit up. Gap going out.

 

[Extinction]

There was one point where he was about 3 seconds behind the front two before they entered Mariaborrestraat (flat cobbles). He came out 8s behind despite being on 'his' territory. I think it is, at least in part, the cobbles. You could that he was noticeably less smooth, even on the Taaienberg. There's a lot of room for improvement there, which is a good thing for his future chances.

Ganna is an interesting comparison because in 2023 he absolutely lost out in part because of his ability on the cobbles. Let's see this year how much he's improved

Yea, but that's because Pog saw him about to join them and then accellerated sapping Remco's legs again. So I don't think it was the cobbles of Mariaborrestraat, as much as being dead that saw him lose those 5 seconds and all hope of catching them. When you are within 3 secs and don't close it's because you are on the limit.

 

[red_flanders]

Can't help but wonder if Remco regrets not having done this race before. He really should. Let the regret burn...

 

[Red Rick]

There was one point where he was about 3 seconds behind the front two before they entered Mariaborrestraat (flat cobbles). He came out 8s behind despite being on 'his' territory. I think it is, at least in part, the cobbles. You could that he was noticeably less smooth, even on the Taaienberg. There's a lot of room for improvement there, which is a good thing for his future chances.

Ganna is an interesting comparison because in 2023 he absolutely lost out in part because of his ability on the cobbles. Let's see this year how much he's improved

How much is technique though versus slight physiological differences.

 

[fenns]

excellent effort today

 

[Berniece]

I'm not quite following, both statements are bit contrary to each other.

In any case , judging from his recent interviews, he'll ride more one day races next year i think.

Which two?

 

[KoopaCycling]

Which two?

You said he rode very well, and also you expected more from him.
I mean 1 thing does not immediately exclude the other i guess. he could have ridden well whilst also expecting more from him. Just seemed like the 2 answers did not match well.

 

[Brullnux]

Yea, but that's because Pog saw him about to join them and then accellerated sapping Remco's legs again. So I don't think it was the cobbles of Mariaborrestraat, as much as being dead that saw him lose those 5 seconds and all hope of catching them. When you are within 3 secs and don't close it's because you are on the limit.

Pogacar did press on but I think the cobbles added to it. There were other moments where Pogacar accelerated on the flat section before the Taaienberg (and after) and did not have the same impact.

Just visually, too, he looked more laboured. Not enough to hinder him in future, but enough to tell me that there's quite some room to improve

 

[Extinction]

Pogacar did press on but I think the cobbles added to it. There were other moments where Pogacar accelerated on the flat section before the Taaienberg (and after) and did not have the same impact.

Just visually, too, he looked more laboured. Not enough to hinder him in future, but enough to tell me that there's quite some room to improve

This is all after 230 km and Remco was trying to close on the two best specialists in this discipline for 20 km. When Pogi accelerated to not let Remco come back it was just before that flat cobbles section, so that's when Evenepoel cracked a bit. By contrast, had Pog not accelerated and let Remco come back I seriously doubt he would have lost the wheels again until the last Kwaremont.

 

[YavorD]

Can't help but wonder if Remco regrets not having done this race before. He really should. Let the regret burn...

He didn't really have many opportunities to do it earlier to be honest.
2020 and 2021 was injured.
2022 he was so poor on cobbles that it probably didn't make sense.
2025 was probably too soon after the post-van crash.

It's "only" 2023 and 2024 and in 2023 he was targeting the Giro.

 

[Berniece]

You said he rode very well, and also you expected more from him.
I mean 1 thing does not immediately exclude the other i guess. he could have ridden well whilst also expecting more from him. Just seemed like the 2 answers did not match well.

I expected he would've been able to follow Pogacar/MVDP when they went on Oude Kwaremont a 2nd time. He broke slightly, and that was surprising. Just expected more of him uphill, but maybe it was the cobbles and there's a skillset he's missing.

I still think overall he rode a good race. Being dropped on Paterberg, and keeping those two so close. Was nice to see him keep on fighting.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Yes, both of those riders

Yes, SC and FG are considerably better riding over the stones than RE is NOW. Can RE he better? Of course.

It's easy to say this of course when Sonny Colbrelli won Roubaix, but if we pretend that one race never happened or that we had this conversation about Colbrelli one week before that Roubaix, I dont think anyone would say he's a very good cobble rider.

 

[Breh]

Very nice debut, podium is a great result.

 

[houtdffan]

though the final climb of the Kwaremont was slower than the women's winner rode it.

He really went kalbammo on that final climb

 

[Oldman]

of course Remco is riding Roubaix. a one off Flanders then back to altitude makes zero sense (unless he has a surprise giro start)

Roubaix is brutal on all levels. IMO he should take the good signals from Flanders and work on continued climbing power, wherever. It wouldn't need to be at altitude necessarily.
Taking a beating at Roubaix could add 2 weeks to recovery for the efforts he should be working on. It's more chaos for injury potential, too.