I wasn't the biggest fan of the route either, but in the end it helped create (alongside the crashes and UAE tactics) an almost perfect scenario ahead of Finestre, where the gaps between the top 3/5 weren't massive, but still big enough for Carapaz and Yates to have to attack early in order to turn things around. A climb like that deserves to be decisive, unlike FEEDAAIIAAAA!!! in 2022 and Monte Lussari in '23, so I can live with the fact that it wasn't an all time great race beforehand, although it wasn't that bad either.
Del Toro got his breakthrough, Carapaz and, to a lesser degree, Bernal returned to the top, Tarling won his first GT stage (and was unlucky not to win a second), Pedersen did his thing, Verona finally won a GT stage, Fortunato found a role that suited him much better than being a top 15 GC guy, and Gee Geelivered the goods. 7/10.
I often make that misteka, too, so I won't comment.