Given the stature of the man, it seems curious that this thread doesn't get a commensurate number of posts. Is it because he is less popular than say Contador or Froome were in their primes? Even on the eve of the Tour, it's been quiet here over the last couple of days.
I've shared my view on this before. First of all, he didn't dominate juniors or U23. He won L'Avenir with a normal/modest gap over Arensman, who was over a year younger, without even winning a stage. Big talent but nothing really out of the ordinary, especially after Bernal. The most interesting period was between 2019 and the start of the 2020 TDF. This was the moment to wonder and ponder about what he was capable of. He won California vs Higuita, he won Algarve early in the season... nice. Had a very good result in Itzulia, 6th iirc. Very promising, but still, Bernal was winning the TDF right about then, and he was only a year and a few months older. Then 3 stages in the Vuelta and he secured his podium spot in one of the last stages... Ok, how far can this guy go? Hype picked up along 2019.
So unlike other guys, the hype picked up late, because he was never seen as a potential worldbeater until mid 2019. And roughly a year later, he was an actual worldbeater with a WTF exposition on PdBF. He wins when and where he starts and feels like it. He can TT, he can climb, he can do hilly monuments, he can do cobbled monuments. Ok, so we've established al that. What's left to talk about?
Furthermore, he comes from a country where cycling isn't the most important religion. Newspapers aren't watching him like a hawk. He can still pick his nose without having ten cameras in his face. And even if local newspapers publish something, none of us know about it, and there aren't enough crazed/hyped Slovenian fans to bring/translate it here.
We could talk about how many minutes he'll be leading with after the first mountain stage. How much do you think? 5? 8? Interesting discussion.
On social media i've noticed more resentment lately though. He wins a bit too easily, and no amount of babyfaced cuteness can fight the inevitable grudge that people can hold against someone for whom success comes that easily. When another young rider was thought to become a dominator, people didn't need much to pile on the hate. Now it appears he has his own demons to fight, and general perception has started to come round. While Pogacar seems to be subject to the opposite. This is just my personal impression, from social media (especially twitter).