I'd say yes until Bahrain prove otherwise. Ineos are all in behind Carapaz whereas Bahrain I'm sure will try to keep their options open as long as possible because you never know with Landa. That and Castroviejo shouldn't be underrated, he was the strongest pure domestique in the race last year.Are they that much better than Bilbao and Poels though? Ineos is a much deeper team on paper, but I don’t see 2022 Richie and Sivakov being much stronger than the those two. Granted, through in Castro and the rest and you have the most impressive team, but I don’t see them as that superior to Bahrain.
I would love to see 2017-18 Dumoulin show up, but I am skeptical at this point which is a shame if he never is able to reach that level of contender again.
I still won’t write him off though
It’s now or never for #Landani to shine. He looked on par with Bernal on the early climbs last year, but he always looks great before catastrophes strike.
Almeida impressed me last year after all the headaches caused by having to babysit the Chosen One over the little pebbles. I think he’s biggest threat to whoever emerges out of the other favorites.
I voted for Landa. It’s his last best chance and he’s looked consistently strong all year. I doubt he’ll actually win though.
It will come down to a fight for pink between Bala and The Bag.
I'd also like to see Dumoulin make a comeback, but the way things have been going in recent times I don't know how likely he is to even make it to the finish.