I disagree that he didn't have a proper attempt in 2019 just because he didn't like the route enough. Covid sure, that was just bad luck, but "I feel like I lost my shape because there weren't enough mountains in the first week" is one of the weaker excuses for a bad performance.Yates said he felt lost condition in 2019 due to the really flat first half of the race and then in 2020 he got covid, so this is his first GC attempt since 2018 that should truly show how good he really is. Basically, he has not been able to show his true grand tour ability in nearly 3 years.
Anyway, we'll see who is right, but I remain with my point that todays performance puts a major question mark next to his name.