I think his best year for performances across all disciplines was probably 2019.
Won the CX Worlds, then had his first spring classics campaign, with that Amstel finish - followed by his best season of XC, with 5 XCC, and 3 XCO wins, plus a European title.
He then returned to the road, and won ToB, and looked to be 'odds on' to win the Road Worlds, before running out of gas. He then returned to CX to dominate.
This year, he looked in super form early in spring, then that mad stage win in the cold & rain in T-A; he wasn't the same after that. Even in the following MTB races, he didn't seem quite in top form, though managed to win 2 XCC races, and a 2nd in the Nove Mesto XCO race.
I'm not sure the Tour set him up for the MTB race in the Olympics; I've seen/heard that he didn't seem great during the training runs, even possibly laboured.
Won the CX Worlds, then had his first spring classics campaign, with that Amstel finish - followed by his best season of XC, with 5 XCC, and 3 XCO wins, plus a European title.
He then returned to the road, and won ToB, and looked to be 'odds on' to win the Road Worlds, before running out of gas. He then returned to CX to dominate.
This year, he looked in super form early in spring, then that mad stage win in the cold & rain in T-A; he wasn't the same after that. Even in the following MTB races, he didn't seem quite in top form, though managed to win 2 XCC races, and a 2nd in the Nove Mesto XCO race.
I'm not sure the Tour set him up for the MTB race in the Olympics; I've seen/heard that he didn't seem great during the training runs, even possibly laboured.