Im not saying it is completely out of the question that he could have made it that far.
But if his career in football was paved, in the same way some journalists make it out to be there is no way in hell he would have changed career.
He could make so much more money, playing football if he was good enough to be a national team level player for Belgium. There are plenty of guys getting a handful of u/16 caps on NT level that are never heard of again.
[A Sporza article from 2 years ago interviewed some of his former teammates.](https://sporza.be/nl/2022/09/07/het-voetballersbestaan-van-evenepoel-hij-liep-tussen-de-kenianen-op-de-halve-marathon-van-brussel~1662530436000/) He was physically a wonder kid, but his technical footballing skills weren't that amazing. By the time he was at the U16 he also didn't get a call up for the national team every time. The fact that he ended his 'career' "only" at the academy of KV Mechelen, while previously playing for much bigger clubs (Anderlecht and PSV) probably means he wasn't good enough for those clubs.
He's mainly a phenomenal athlete as a whole. No doubt he could've been a professional footballer, but I don't think he would be anywhere near a world-class player.
I don't think it's deadset that he could have been a pro footballer. Being in a pro club academy doesnt guarantee you later pro status at all.
Edit: This is similar to the narrative that Rog was on his way to becoming a world class Ski jumper and only the crash in Planica prevented him. Which is total bs from what I can tell. Truly can't trust mainstream journalists on shit like this.
You're right, I just thought he would've at least been good enough for the Belgian 2nd or 3rd division. That's not exactly high level and he wouldn't become rich from it, but it's still professional.
Yeah, Roglic himself said that he saw that he won't ever become a top ski jumper (even if he was junior team WC before) and that this is why he decided to change his career. He said that his crash in Planica (as trial jumper, not as competitor as he was still 18 at that point) wasn't a main factor in this decision.
Whereas Michael Woods set the Canadian junior mile and 3200m records before getting injured. He wouldn't have been world beater, but he could've gone pro.
He would have had a better shot as a pro track athlete in long distance running.
Belgium’s woes on the pitch have to do with the FA sucking serious ass and he
Irony a loser like Tedesco.
Yeah? Did he do track events? Ironically, he seems kind of heavy for a marathon runner, and kind of short for middle distance track, so long distance track does sound like the right fit.
True, cycling fans are data geeks. Most of them even have their own bikes and try to figure how hard it is to do TdF. Unlike some football fans who don't even own a football. But to be fair only one guy needs to bring a football for 22.
The scenes of her and Tadej in Unchained S2 were great, but I'm bummed they never mentioned that she's a pro cyclist.
Not surprised, but would have been nice IMO.
There was a guy on here when Pogacar won the Tour the first time who said he and Pogacar were on the same youth cycling club team. More importantly, they played league of legends together.
Did you know Pogacar used to carry mid?
Bro the clips from Unchained of Jonas in the fish factory had me dyingggg. Looked like they made him get all dressed up to move some ice around LMAO like no way bro is still doing that.
It is a clip from before he was a pro. He was apparently very unstructured, so the sports director made him work at the fish factory from 06-14 and then he would ride his bike afterwards.
Did you hear the story about Remglic van Evanderpogagaard?
The fish slinging, downhill skiing, footballing and cyclocrossing professional road cyclist?
He was at 80-85% according to him and still beating everybody but 10 guys. If he can get back to 100% (which I don’t know if it’s possible under 3 weeks) he will be top 5. And if he cannot be close to 100%, there is no way we see Jonas either considering he suffered much worse injuries.
At Visma they know how to perfectly prepare a rider for a GT though. Can the same be said for Quickstep? I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Vingegaard perform at his best level this tour and I have less faith in Quickstep, I'm not convinced they really know what they are doing tbh.
Common, it’s a professional team and one of the most successful overall. There is no way they are are clueless and Visma are goated. There is no more secret in the field, coaches, cyclists, etc… are swapping teams all the time and bringing the knowledge with them anyway.
You can bring the knowledge, but the application of that knowledge can vary widely. It's the same as when an NBA team hires away a coveted shooting coach from another team and all of a sudden everyone is shooting 40% from 3. The application of that knowledge on an individual basis is critical, and professional teams in every major sport that have better management and better coaching will get more and better results from their athletes.
Not saying that this is the case between QS and Visma, just saying that it does make a difference, and not just in cycling.
Also, see Laporte and Jorgenson for examples of the difference.
Clueless is probably too harsh, but I think there is still a knowledge gap. In terms of budget there is a big difference so it is to be expected.
I can't help but think Evenepoel would be a better rider if he was riding for Visma or Ineos. Quickstep has already dropped the ball with him a few times in the past. For example, rushing his recovery to ride the Giro.
I agree, Remco would fit in much better in a GC focused team. I would have said Ineos would be a perfect fit a couple years back but I feel like they don't have enough experienced riders there to really cater to him in its current state. Him and Pidcock would clash massively too I expect.
Somewhere like Lidl Trek would be perfect for him in the current season i reckon.
Somehow, that's not the best Evenepoel story in my mind. At 16, when he was still trying to become a footballer, he ran a half marathon for fun the day before a game. He did it in 1:16. That's only 16 minutes off the youth world record in the half marathon and would have been good enough to not finish last in the 2023 world championships
As a runner, I would have expected under 1:10 from him at minimum, and 1:05 or under to be really impressive. There was a guy at my high school that came straight from soccer and was running 5k equivalent times to that 1:16 half. He was winning small races, but nowhere near the top guys at state.
So much shit-talking here, but the vast majority of the US sports viewing world knows nothing but Lance Armstrong and are only starting to know people like Messi. This article is a good thing even if it is total cringe for you.
I always wondered what type of footballer Remco was. Cry-baby fall-down type always crying to the refs, or more of a gamesman, or a tough player, etc.
Is his cycling persona similar to his football persona or no?
Keep dreaming dude. Remco will fold on the first hard mountain day. His TT skills will not save him the podium. He will go stage hunting but that’s about it.
How did Dauphine turn out for him?
I dont believe in Remco as a serious GC contender for the win, but outside of the big 3, he might be the best so if one of them has a bad TdF Remco in theory might sneak on the podium.
this being said, I see him giving minutes on the Galibier and relinquishing any GC hopes, going stage hunting.
I'm just curious, do you not rate Remco in general as a climber or do you simply think his preparation has been hampered to ruin his GC hopes this season
Bit hard to understand considering your aggressive tone throughout.
There's definitely not a zero chance. The guy has won the vuelta, was leading the giro when he got covid and still managed to get up to 12th at the vuelta last year after cracking. He has a chance at the podium, and it's certainly not zero.
Hush now, you are disturbing the narrative with your inconvenient memory of recent history.
The narrative says every time someone brings up a success that Remco has achieved, the "very smart cycling fan" has to counter with "yeah, but".
So when you bring up that Remco has won the Vuelta the narrative counters with: "yeah, but he hasn't won the Tour."
When you bring up that Remco is a year younger than Tadej, 3 years younger than than Jonas, and a decade Primoz' junior, the narrative answers that just means he's going to burn out.
The narrative says that only stupid people think Remco is a GC threat. Ineos' efforts to purchase his contract to be the foundation of their future GC efforts is strenuously ignored.
The narrative says Remco is overrated and any evidence of his success as a rider is just twisted to say "well, he's so talented that he's wasting it all."
My apologies, I should have known all along that remco is in fact complete rubbish and all his victories are actually major asterisks. I should read more Belgian media and listen to pog/rog fans.
Vuelta and Giro is one big step below the tour in terms of quality and competition.
You can see how Pog and Vingegaard made it look like a cake walk in the past year.
Never once did I say he would win it or the vuelta is as good as the tour in quality of competition (although last year probably had the best startlist in gc terms). It also has nothing to do with the fact he is still a podium contender.
Yes, and last year when it had actual competition Remco cracked completely despite not riding the Tour.
I can easily see him crack as hard again when actually pressed, when the big teams set the tempo in the Tour, he'll be dropping out early on the big climbs.
Nah. I’m going to agree Remco has a lot to prove at the Tour, but podium isn’t that crazy. First, let’s assume Vingegaard isn’t in good shape. Boom, now Roglic and Pogacar are the obvious two men that would beat him. So he’d also need to be beaten by Tao, or Adam Yates, or Hindley, or Kuss/Jorgenson. I would say all of those guys are clearly worse GC contenders than Remco if Remco rides well. However, Remco has to be at top form. If he’s not at Vuelta 2022 form or better he’s not going to make podium. I give it a 25% chance.
If he gets a top 10 I’d be surprised. He’s too inconsistent to be a GC contender at this stage of his career. Maybe that will change but it hasn’t happened yet.
Top 10 is fully realistic. Pogi and Jonas (likely even in his state) will beat him handily. Roglic will also probably be better. Then there is a list of maybe 10-15 riders he can beat on a good day (including the three UAE lieutenants and the two Bora guys), and I think he is good enough to beat enough of them for a Top-10. The question is if he wants to go for a Top-10, or rather stages and the Polka Dots.
I definitly can't imagine him further up than fifth this year, maybe even sixth.
Yeah, I think that if he focused on the GC then top 10 is realistic because he can just follow wheels and get to the second to last selection and then crush a lot of the pure mountain guys in the TT.
But that doesn’t work if he has a day when he loses 5 minutes on everyone.
Did you know Roglic used to be a ski jumper?
Did you know he is junior team event world champion in ski jumping?
Came here for this comment.
Cane here for this comment.
Reminds me of Sofie Gråbol from *The Killing*. Oh wait. She used to wear a ski jumper...
Did you know Jonas Vingegaard used to pack fish?
Did you know Marlen Reusser is a doctor?
Did you know Steve Buscemi was a firefighter during 9/11?
Wist u dat hij vroeger schansspringer was?
Im not saying it is completely out of the question that he could have made it that far. But if his career in football was paved, in the same way some journalists make it out to be there is no way in hell he would have changed career. He could make so much more money, playing football if he was good enough to be a national team level player for Belgium. There are plenty of guys getting a handful of u/16 caps on NT level that are never heard of again.
[A Sporza article from 2 years ago interviewed some of his former teammates.](https://sporza.be/nl/2022/09/07/het-voetballersbestaan-van-evenepoel-hij-liep-tussen-de-kenianen-op-de-halve-marathon-van-brussel~1662530436000/) He was physically a wonder kid, but his technical footballing skills weren't that amazing. By the time he was at the U16 he also didn't get a call up for the national team every time. The fact that he ended his 'career' "only" at the academy of KV Mechelen, while previously playing for much bigger clubs (Anderlecht and PSV) probably means he wasn't good enough for those clubs. He's mainly a phenomenal athlete as a whole. No doubt he could've been a professional footballer, but I don't think he would be anywhere near a world-class player.
I don't think it's deadset that he could have been a pro footballer. Being in a pro club academy doesnt guarantee you later pro status at all. Edit: This is similar to the narrative that Rog was on his way to becoming a world class Ski jumper and only the crash in Planica prevented him. Which is total bs from what I can tell. Truly can't trust mainstream journalists on shit like this.
You're right, I just thought he would've at least been good enough for the Belgian 2nd or 3rd division. That's not exactly high level and he wouldn't become rich from it, but it's still professional.
Yeah, Roglic himself said that he saw that he won't ever become a top ski jumper (even if he was junior team WC before) and that this is why he decided to change his career. He said that his crash in Planica (as trial jumper, not as competitor as he was still 18 at that point) wasn't a main factor in this decision.
Whereas Michael Woods set the Canadian junior mile and 3200m records before getting injured. He wouldn't have been world beater, but he could've gone pro.
this is generally what the Athletic article says as well.
Dangerous accidental subreddit there.
More like an accidental username. And if someone got that username we could rest easily knowing they would be quite old by now.
He would have had a better shot as a pro track athlete in long distance running. Belgium’s woes on the pitch have to do with the FA sucking serious ass and he Irony a loser like Tedesco.
Yeah? Did he do track events? Ironically, he seems kind of heavy for a marathon runner, and kind of short for middle distance track, so long distance track does sound like the right fit.
He ran the Brussels half marathon in 1 hour 16 minutes day after a football match at 16. Kept up with Kenyans for the first 10 km.
Remco makes 2.8 million euro's a year. Not too bad as a constellation price.
In terms of salary, yes, but he made over € 4 milllion in 2022 incl. bonuses and private sponsorships.
A consolation prize?
Sir, this is /r/peloton and we know every unimportant fact about the riders.
True, cycling fans are data geeks. Most of them even have their own bikes and try to figure how hard it is to do TdF. Unlike some football fans who don't even own a football. But to be fair only one guy needs to bring a football for 22.
uae gc leader backstory really lacking, dont think they got a chance
Do you know Urska’s boyfriend?
The scenes of her and Tadej in Unchained S2 were great, but I'm bummed they never mentioned that she's a pro cyclist. Not surprised, but would have been nice IMO.
Is that Tilen Pogacar's brother?
There was a guy on here when Pogacar won the Tour the first time who said he and Pogacar were on the same youth cycling club team. More importantly, they played league of legends together. Did you know Pogacar used to carry mid?
An unicyclist in a small town? (Ok really lacking, I agree)
Georg Steinhauser is the nephew of Jan Ullrich.
Well, they divorced, so not really any more. Rather ex-nephew.
I didnt know you can divorce your nephew, interesting.
Sweet Home Saarland
He is the nephew of Ullrich’s ex-wife, his father was a good friend of Jan Ullrich. So no bloodline nephew 😅
Let me tell you a story about Jonas
Did you know he worked in a fish factory?
Bro the clips from Unchained of Jonas in the fish factory had me dyingggg. Looked like they made him get all dressed up to move some ice around LMAO like no way bro is still doing that.
It’s from a clip from Danish tv I believe. So it’s from when he was younger and actually working there.
Oh lol that’s interesting. He looked exactly the same😂
It is a clip from before he was a pro. He was apparently very unstructured, so the sports director made him work at the fish factory from 06-14 and then he would ride his bike afterwards.
Did you hear the story about Remglic van Evanderpogagaard? The fish slinging, downhill skiing, footballing and cyclocrossing professional road cyclist?
My pick for this years tour right there… 😅
Imagine a rider who combines these 6 skillsets. He would be unstoppable. Until the Roglic DNA makes him crash out in some mundane transition stage.
Post modern pentathlon
No mention of equestrian Asgreen? https://bt.bmcdn.dk/media/cache/resolve/image_1240/image/147/1474589/23399634-asgreen.jpg
This is new information to me. This changes everything!
Hmmm. Evenepoel eh? Never heard of him.
It has started. The casuals have joined the sub for TdF. We welcome you! May the sun shine and our chains be waxed.
Am I a casual to you, good person?
I guess I'm a casual too since I didn't know this and I pretty much only watch the big races and the GT's.
Not like the regulars are much better when it comes to Remco.
Btw i wonder who the "three" favourites to win are, remco pogi and jonas? poor roglic
I doubt remco even gets top 5, he was struggling a lot at the dauphine
He was at 80-85% according to him and still beating everybody but 10 guys. If he can get back to 100% (which I don’t know if it’s possible under 3 weeks) he will be top 5. And if he cannot be close to 100%, there is no way we see Jonas either considering he suffered much worse injuries.
At Visma they know how to perfectly prepare a rider for a GT though. Can the same be said for Quickstep? I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Vingegaard perform at his best level this tour and I have less faith in Quickstep, I'm not convinced they really know what they are doing tbh.
Common, it’s a professional team and one of the most successful overall. There is no way they are are clueless and Visma are goated. There is no more secret in the field, coaches, cyclists, etc… are swapping teams all the time and bringing the knowledge with them anyway.
You’d be surprised. There used to be a lot of incompetence in cycling as well as pro sports.
You’d be surprised. There used to be a lot of incompetence in cycling as well as pro sports.
You can bring the knowledge, but the application of that knowledge can vary widely. It's the same as when an NBA team hires away a coveted shooting coach from another team and all of a sudden everyone is shooting 40% from 3. The application of that knowledge on an individual basis is critical, and professional teams in every major sport that have better management and better coaching will get more and better results from their athletes. Not saying that this is the case between QS and Visma, just saying that it does make a difference, and not just in cycling. Also, see Laporte and Jorgenson for examples of the difference.
Clueless is probably too harsh, but I think there is still a knowledge gap. In terms of budget there is a big difference so it is to be expected. I can't help but think Evenepoel would be a better rider if he was riding for Visma or Ineos. Quickstep has already dropped the ball with him a few times in the past. For example, rushing his recovery to ride the Giro.
I agree, Remco would fit in much better in a GC focused team. I would have said Ineos would be a perfect fit a couple years back but I feel like they don't have enough experienced riders there to really cater to him in its current state. Him and Pidcock would clash massively too I expect. Somewhere like Lidl Trek would be perfect for him in the current season i reckon.
Do you want to bet he won't make top 5?
I wouldn't bet on it but I'd be very surprised unless he shows significant improvement in the 3 weeks he has.
Rog, Pog and Vingegaard are well above Remco even if they're all in top shape.
great, the article includes remco in the 3 circle tho
Vingegaard gave up his fisherman career to become a pro cyclist
We all make sacrifices for the sport we love.
One thing's for sure: Remco would not have lost to Peter Sagan on a bike these days!
Somehow, that's not the best Evenepoel story in my mind. At 16, when he was still trying to become a footballer, he ran a half marathon for fun the day before a game. He did it in 1:16. That's only 16 minutes off the youth world record in the half marathon and would have been good enough to not finish last in the 2023 world championships
As a runner, I would have expected under 1:10 from him at minimum, and 1:05 or under to be really impressive. There was a guy at my high school that came straight from soccer and was running 5k equivalent times to that 1:16 half. He was winning small races, but nowhere near the top guys at state.
So much shit-talking here, but the vast majority of the US sports viewing world knows nothing but Lance Armstrong and are only starting to know people like Messi. This article is a good thing even if it is total cringe for you.
Also, the Euros are on. It's a lazy article for writers who need clicks.
I'm surprised (in a good way) that an American newspaper is writing an article on Evenepoel!
Have you been living under a rock?
r/woosh
Didnt know its was 2019 with insults like this
I always wondered what type of footballer Remco was. Cry-baby fall-down type always crying to the refs, or more of a gamesman, or a tough player, etc. Is his cycling persona similar to his football persona or no?
What you mean with TdF contender? He has zero chance of podium.
Zero? !Remindme 3 weeks
Keep dreaming dude. Remco will fold on the first hard mountain day. His TT skills will not save him the podium. He will go stage hunting but that’s about it. How did Dauphine turn out for him?
He was not at 100% and not going for GC anyway, and yet he still got a stage win. Pretty impressive in my book when Tarling and Roglic were present.
Why do people rate results in preparation races so high all of a sudden?
I dont believe in Remco as a serious GC contender for the win, but outside of the big 3, he might be the best so if one of them has a bad TdF Remco in theory might sneak on the podium. this being said, I see him giving minutes on the Galibier and relinquishing any GC hopes, going stage hunting.
I'd put Adam Yates above him.
I’m enough of a mathematician that I consider myself having better than a zero chance of a podium
Let’s see about your math skills. RemindMe! 35 days
I'm just curious, do you not rate Remco in general as a climber or do you simply think his preparation has been hampered to ruin his GC hopes this season Bit hard to understand considering your aggressive tone throughout.
There's definitely not a zero chance. The guy has won the vuelta, was leading the giro when he got covid and still managed to get up to 12th at the vuelta last year after cracking. He has a chance at the podium, and it's certainly not zero.
Hush now, you are disturbing the narrative with your inconvenient memory of recent history. The narrative says every time someone brings up a success that Remco has achieved, the "very smart cycling fan" has to counter with "yeah, but". So when you bring up that Remco has won the Vuelta the narrative counters with: "yeah, but he hasn't won the Tour." When you bring up that Remco is a year younger than Tadej, 3 years younger than than Jonas, and a decade Primoz' junior, the narrative answers that just means he's going to burn out. The narrative says that only stupid people think Remco is a GC threat. Ineos' efforts to purchase his contract to be the foundation of their future GC efforts is strenuously ignored. The narrative says Remco is overrated and any evidence of his success as a rider is just twisted to say "well, he's so talented that he's wasting it all."
My apologies, I should have known all along that remco is in fact complete rubbish and all his victories are actually major asterisks. I should read more Belgian media and listen to pog/rog fans.
Vuelta and Giro is one big step below the tour in terms of quality and competition. You can see how Pog and Vingegaard made it look like a cake walk in the past year.
Never once did I say he would win it or the vuelta is as good as the tour in quality of competition (although last year probably had the best startlist in gc terms). It also has nothing to do with the fact he is still a podium contender.
Yes, and last year when it had actual competition Remco cracked completely despite not riding the Tour. I can easily see him crack as hard again when actually pressed, when the big teams set the tempo in the Tour, he'll be dropping out early on the big climbs.
Nah. I’m going to agree Remco has a lot to prove at the Tour, but podium isn’t that crazy. First, let’s assume Vingegaard isn’t in good shape. Boom, now Roglic and Pogacar are the obvious two men that would beat him. So he’d also need to be beaten by Tao, or Adam Yates, or Hindley, or Kuss/Jorgenson. I would say all of those guys are clearly worse GC contenders than Remco if Remco rides well. However, Remco has to be at top form. If he’s not at Vuelta 2022 form or better he’s not going to make podium. I give it a 25% chance.
If he gets a top 10 I’d be surprised. He’s too inconsistent to be a GC contender at this stage of his career. Maybe that will change but it hasn’t happened yet.
Top 10 is fully realistic. Pogi and Jonas (likely even in his state) will beat him handily. Roglic will also probably be better. Then there is a list of maybe 10-15 riders he can beat on a good day (including the three UAE lieutenants and the two Bora guys), and I think he is good enough to beat enough of them for a Top-10. The question is if he wants to go for a Top-10, or rather stages and the Polka Dots. I definitly can't imagine him further up than fifth this year, maybe even sixth.
Yeah, I think that if he focused on the GC then top 10 is realistic because he can just follow wheels and get to the second to last selection and then crush a lot of the pure mountain guys in the TT. But that doesn’t work if he has a day when he loses 5 minutes on everyone.
click bair for calling him a contender