2021 PRO thread

[maquisard]

In other news, is Remco one of the most over-rated riders out there...

[justRideIt]

In other news, is Remco one of the most over-rated riders out there...

Also MvdP leaves an over-rated impression more and more, I'd say... not to take away from the achievement to wear the Maillot Jaune at Le Tour, esp. not from me typing this out sitting in my sofa, but his stint in yellow smells more like a marketing stunt, even riding a yellow Canyon Aeroad early in the race. I found it cringey.

He did not have to pace his efforts over three weeks all the way to Paris, but goes all out for a handful of stages.

Then he quits the Tour immediately after he loses yellow to "focus" on the MTB XC Olympics. However, He did not look too focused in the race.

Lots of hype the past years, hard to deliver upon it.

Wout v Aert on the other hand is consistently delivering in many disciplines. Mountain stages, TT, bunch sprints, CX, as a domestique... you name it.

Regarding Olympic TT, I think Roglic really deserves the gold medal. Apart from the performance, he is a true champion and sportsman.
He was so focused, he even put the power down after the finish line

[LouisN]

Hip injuries are tough to fully recover from...

Louis

[Maddie]

Mvdp overrated? Since he joined the road racing scene, the races have become much more entertaining, also because he is so unpredictable. And looking how much he has won, he absolutely delivers.

[robbosmans]

In other news, is Remco one of the most over-rated riders out there...

Also MvdP leaves an over-rated impression more and more, I'd say... not to take away from the achievement to wear the Maillot Jaune at Le Tour, esp. not from me typing this out sitting in my sofa, but his stint in yellow smells more like a marketing stunt, even riding a yellow Canyon Aeroad early in the race. I found it cringey.

He did not have to pace his efforts over three weeks all the way to Paris, but goes all out for a handful of stages.

Then he quits the Tour immediately after he loses yellow to "focus" on the MTB XC Olympics. However, He did not look too focused in the race.

Lots of hype the past years, hard to deliver upon it.

Wout v Aert on the other hand is consistently delivering in many disciplines. Mountain stages, TT, bunch sprints, CX, as a domestique... you name it.

Regarding Olympic TT, I think Roglic really deserves the gold medal. Apart from the performance, he is a true champion and sportsman.
He was so focused, he even put the power down after the finish line

Lol, what are you even talking about

[Dan Gerous]

Lol indeed!

[kytyree]

Dropping MVDP and overrated on the web:

[tymon_tm]

regarding hype - is CN being sponsored by Thomas himself? everyday there seems to be a piece about him, Thomas this, Thomas that. plus a bunch of. I get they target UK crowd, but it's really getting ridiculous, especially given his constant (under)performance

[Fisherfreerider]

Imagine saying this about the rider who has won;
Amstel, DDV, Strade, Flanders, 2x National champ and held Yellow...
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/m ... stics/wins

[Karvalo]

Also MvdP leaves an over-rated impression more and more, I'd say... not to take away from the achievement to wear the Maillot Jaune at Le Tour, esp. not from me typing this out sitting in my sofa, but his stint in yellow smells more like a marketing stunt, even riding a yellow Canyon Aeroad early in the race. I found it cringey.

By Jove you're right! Why, if only every other rider had figured out they could get publicity by wearing the yellow jersey then they'd all have gone out and won one too!

Then he quits the Tour immediately after he loses yellow to "focus" on the MTB XC Olympics. However, He did not look too focused in the race.

He made one mistake and then was riding hurt. Granted it was a really big mistake but it makes no sense to rip apart someone's entire career over it.

[jever98]

Yellow as a marketing stunt.

LMAO ROFL, etc.

[Karvalo]

In other news, is Remco one of the most over-rated riders out there...

It was crazy that he was being talked up as a top tier Giro contender in his first race back from injury, so in a limited sense yes, he was massively overrated in spring of this year. Overall though, who the hell knows? There's no way to talk it through or figure it out, you've just gotta wait 5 years and see what his Palmares says.

[Maddie]

If Pogacar doesn't win the next 3 TdF, he's probably overrated too...

[Mr.Gib]

Imagine saying this about the rider who has won;
Amstel, DDV, Strade, Flanders, 2x National champ and held Yellow...
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/m ... stics/wins

And don't forget, the greatest cyclocross rider ever. And at 26 years old just coming into his prime. Even at this stage you could argue he is the greatest we have ever seen based on winning percentage, etc. On the road right now I personally prefer Van Aert for his versatility, but he has 30% fewer wins so...

[de zwarten]

In other news, is Remco one of the most over-rated riders out there...

It depends on what made you rate this rider:

A pre-Lombardia-crash Evenepoel would be a big favourite on this course, and anything less than a podium would be seen as a failure.

A post-crash Evenepoel is happy to be alive, as a starter. He forced his comeback and the Giro showed that he wasn't ready. The next couple of races showed that he improved slowly with more race rythm, and the Olympic road race showed he still missed that sparkle.

So based on that, the most a neutral bystander would expect was a top 10, and maybe a top 5 if his competitors failed big time. He did better than anyone of the younger kids in the TT, and worse than the absolute top TT riders you would expect to beat him (Ganna, Dennis, WvA, Asgreen), most of them with 3 times the race days / kilometers. Asgreen won Belgian semi-classics in March while Evenepoel was doing revalidation excercises in a swimming pool, walking with the aid of crutches!

So all in all, I would say it was a solid performance given the history and preparations, and as I see no other Belgian doing any better on this parcours, it was the right choice to select him.