I'm not discounting that. In fact, I posted that his heart wasn't in it upthread.Your emotional connection to WVA is bliding you... his problem is not just about him taking fewer risks. His legs are very underwhelming too, he is probably not "sacrificing" his body like he used to be. For me, that is his main problem. His head and heart are not 100% focused in cycling anymore IMHO. When this happens, retirement is very soon (e.g. Dumoulin, Sagan as recent examples).