Harrogate (United Kingdom) (AFP)
A phenomenon of precocity, it shakes prejudices and even certainties: at 19, Remco Evenepoel, become one of the best riders in the world as soon as he leaves the juniors, embodies a generation in the process of capturing orders. Explanations on a wave that shakes the pack.
. Never seen
"It's not the new Merckx but Merckx + Hinault with a zest of Bernal and Mbappé". The formula is Cyrille Guimard, the former French coach, after the victory of Evenepoel in August in the Clasica San Sebastian. The silver medal of the Belgian prodigy, Wednesday, in the World Time trial in Yorkshire, reinforces the joke.
"It's unheard of," says Fred Grappe, the Groupama-FDJ's performance director. Before Evenepoel's performance, two other runners made a splash during the summer. Under 21, for his first season in the elite, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar finished on the podium of the Vuelta (and pocketed 3 mountain stages). Colombian Egan Bernal, his one-year-old elder, won the Tour de France.
. Extraordinary capacities
"I would be curious to know his VO2 max," wonders Cluster about the key value (maximum oxygen consumption) Evenepoel, in other words the displacement of its "engine". "I hope his team will make his data known so much what he does is exceptional". At the end of 2015, Chris Froome unveiled the results of his physiological tests after his second victorious Tour de France.
Only certainty, genetic endowment Evenepoel, son of a former cyclist, seems out of the ordinary. Having come to high-level sport through football, the Belgian has signed, at the same time, under 17, a high-level performance in a half-marathon (1 h 13 min). But, says Grappe, "genetics counts for 50%, training for 50 percent".
. Better trained young people
"They are exceptional runners but the phenomenon is amplified by the structuring of the detection and training means.Today, we can follow more and more young runners," said Jean-Baptiste Quiclet, the counterpart of Fred Grappe at AG2R La Mondiale. This was enough to create a breath of fresh air for this generation, a form of ambient youthism in the teams at the moment of the transfer window. "Everyone is looking for" his "Evenepoel", sums up an observer.
"The learning time is shortened, note Quiclet, these runners are mature, they are already operational to assume the role of leaders, they go over the usual obstacles". Even more in the case of Evenepoel, come to cycling ... in spring 2017 only.
. The Tour in the future
Should we expect a spectacular progression? Evenepoel, whose ease and performance on the flat have stunned the witnesses at the recent Tour of Germany, certainly has a margin. "The power is fixed but it will progress in the regulation of its engine, it will better operate at the end of the races," explains Grappe. Especially since the tactical and collective aspects must also be taken into account.
In advance, the "mage" Guimard had fun: "Too bad for those who dreamed of winning the Tour after 2020 or the Tokyo Olympics." Even if Evenepoel has not yet chained three weeks of racing, nor escalate large collar. But the various elements, given its size (61 kg for 1.71 m), plead in his favor as long as the objective is taken into account by his team. A condition also to digest celebrity and responsibilities, at the end of the current period of recklessness.
. A change of era
The traditional principle of protecting young talents, "not to grill them", is swept in the light of the 2019 season. This is a new model that is looming, confirm the technicians. "The higher the potential, the more you have to shoot," says Grappe.
The image of cycling, a late-maturing sport, should therefore be corrected. With, in perspective, the risk of mental saturation, a career stop intervening earlier. "I would not be surprised if we found ourselves in the situation of other sports, swimming for example, with new retirees at 28," says Quiclet. "What drives motivation is the desire to do better, but when you reach the top at 20 ..."
© 2019 AFP