That Vinge should be more fatigued as well compared to the other two TTs being compared. These three are all crazy TTs and Vinge did his after two very hard weeks of racing when he was expending energy all the way to the minimum 1 KM to go banner at the front on every stage. In theory Vinge should look tired like his competitors but went out and looked like he showed up to the prologue.
Then if he’s able to do this kind of performance in the third week, imagine the watts and time he could have done if it was the first stage.
Where are the effects of fatigue on Vingegaard in the third week though? Assuming that relative gaps between Vinge and the peloton could be justified by fatigue, this still doesn't explain Vinge's performance in absolute values (w/kg) (which of course goes beyond OP's point I admit)
but is it not all relative?
vingo's TT in the third week demonstrates that he has better recovery than the others, not that he would have made these differences in a prologue (as everyone would be equally fresh).
i have no doubt that he is not as strong as he was at the start of the TDF. it is just that others are more diminished.
lemond often said that he knew that he could make the difference in the third week, when others dropped off more than he did.
ultimately, i am glad in a way, as the true test of a GT is primarily recovery over three weeks. when route designers try to lessen that effect by shortening the stages, etc... they are altering that test.
kudos to JV for making the racing as hard as possible throughout (as they did in 2022). while Pog was no doubt compromised by an imperfect prep, we literally had a real-time visual of his decline from his stage win when he achieved the greatest separation, then to ever-decreasing margins, then Vingo being dropped but clawing back to his wheel, then not being able to gap Vingo at all, then a strong TT but one where he did not look fully himself, looked tired. and then finally a complete collapse.
separate thought: for those complaining that now the third week is "boring", I say this: what does one remember from most any TDF? The exploits and the dramatic collapses (and the personalities, for sure). That is what is seared into our memories. what does anyone remember of the 1992 TDF? Luxembourg and perhaps Sestiere. in 2022, no doubt it is Granon, both for its epic-ness, but also for Pog's surprising collapse. Same goes for 2023, I would suggest: Vingo's ITT exploit and Pog's dramatic "I'm dead" moment.
I often think that those who claim to want things close until the last day are saying that because they have a personal stake/favorite in the game and they want that favorite to stay in play as long as possible. when that favorite drops off earlier than they wanted, they complain that the "route" was badly planned, that it is "boring" because it is no longer a nail-biter. I have absolutely no favorite in this race (well, Pinot, perhaps, and I don't really like UAE), no
ardent favorite anyway. And I even find the personalities a little "meh". However, I will remember the ITT and Pog's "I'm dead".
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