Pennino said:
A podium would be absolutely great given the position he was in after the Andorra stage.
This I agree with. A podium doesn't mean much to him, at least not much more than a 4th or 5th place, but I understand that he wants to finish as high up as possible and because Froome is unbeatable especially with the 3 minute headstart 2nd would be the best possible achievement. However personally I would just rather see him win a stage, seeing Alberto on the 2nd step next to Froome even at a meaningless race like Ruta del Sol was already hard for me, but to see it here, it would be too frustrating, I don't want to have to avoid images of the podium ceremony, it will be sad enough without the added humiliation. Although I suppose considering previous years there's a big chance we won't even see the podium ceremony on TV which may be a blessing in disguise!
What worries me is that Alberto is highly unlikely to win a stage as long as he's still relatively close on GC so this dual aim of a stage win and high GC placing may kill his chances of achieving what he would obviously rate higher. It's understandable because he's always been a GC rider and he isn't going to resort to stage hunting in his final race, but I think he may regret it afterwards.