Weak indeed, as in: no competition for the win. Claiming people said the Giro is weak while referring to a year with lesser demi-gods is a straw man's argument, as you could use this every single year from now on that Pog won the race except maybe a Contador in the best form. There simply hasn't been any rider in the last 20 years that is as good as Pog, in the Giro. When people say weak, they mean: competition, not the average level of the top 5 (because in that case, with Pog as an outlier, the level would be pretty good).People say this year is a weak Giro. They'd have loved 2014. Quintana beating the likes of Rolland, Kelderman, Majka, & an elderly Evans & Pozzovio.
Pog's trainer told me he is going to do a training ride for the Tour today. Just softpedal and the 2nd time on Monte Grappa he'll do an FTP test without looking behind, and win with 5 minutes, get the KOM on strava (currently a 1:03 effort around 340W) and subsequently gets flagged.