Debut
January 19th will be the debut of Remco Evenepoel in the professional peloton. The junior world champion in both the road race and time trial of Innsbruck last summer will start in the tour of San Juan in Argentina with Deceuninck-Quick Step. Skipping the under 23 category, which is unseen in these modern times...
At the age of 18 years, he will be by far the youngest rider in the full UCI circuit. Some people in Belgium are already comparing him to the master himself, Eddy Merckx. I don't dare to go that far yet. He still has everything to prove with the big guys. But his talent and capabilities are immense, that is for sure. And he has a fan that has won a few races in his days, Alberto Contador, he visited Remco in his first road trip with the team in december. Just out of the blue, Contador read that they were in the Sierra Nevada in Spain, and he wanted to meet "The Prodigy" and know all there is to know about him. They have become friends ever since. And believe me, in the cycling peloton, that says a lot!
Clean?
In other countries, besides Belgium, people are doubting the correctness of his results. Because he is winning with such a margin. I get that, it is strange, but his blood values are very consistent, and are in line with current riders like Chris Froome, Peter Sagan, etc... His VO2Max is incredible for such a young age, and that has nothing to do with doping, just good genes and loads of practice.
What especially speaks for him is that he only begon cycling a little less than 2 years ago. Before that he was a very promising soccer player for Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven. He even was captain of the Belgium U17 National Team. So, he has been tested for over a decade in a professional environment. So, sorry guys, but this guy is clean in my humble opinion.
Very curious to see this prodigy ride with the big guys... And especially how he will handle the pressure and with the fact the he will not be winning every race he starts...
Sincerely,
Pele23
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