Posted this in a different thread but more relevant here.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is true. He performed significantly better in comparison to Dumoulin than he previously had, for example:
- 2017: 57 seconds behind Dumoulin over 31km in WC (1.8s/km)
- 2018: 72 seconds behind Dumoulin over 31km in the Tour (2.3s/km)
- 2020: 35 seconds behind Dumoulin over 36km in the Tour (.9s/kim)
Also, he performed better compared to a selection of challengers from last year's Giro:
- 2019: 17 seconds behind Caruso, 9 seconds behind Bilbao over 17km in the Giro
- 2020: 33 seconds ahead of Caruso, 84 seconds ahead of Bilbao over 36km in the Tour
In counterpoint, he did worse compared to Cavagna, though not significantly so.
- 2019: 27 seconds ahead of Cavagna in Vuelta
- 2020: 3 seconds ahead of Cavagna in Tour