That was literally the entire point of the discussion?3 minutes down on the big 2 but ahead of everyone else.
I don't think anyone was suggesting Hindley would rival Pogacar and Vingegaard. The fact is when he crashed on stage 14 he was 3rd on GC and ahead of riders like the Yates twins and Carlos Rodriguez. The Yates twins and Rodriguez finished 3rd, 4th and 5th in Paris.
This year if his form is good IMO he can be at least as good as Roglic in the mountains. Obviously he will lose a lot of time in the TT, but Hindley's TT showed improvement since he won the Giro. At last year's Dauphine he lost under a minute to Vingegaard over 31km. He actually gained nearly a minute on Rodriguez that day. So the potential for a very good TdF result is there. Much might depend upon the team dynamics with Roglic.