Weird argument. It's like saying: "Without the cobbled classics, Van de Poel would have had a mediocre season". The point is that they set objectives and Remco was able to tick his off (as MvdP did).
And as said before: the Olympics kind of jeopardized the autumn races for him. Just like last year's focus on the WCTT in august did not allow for a decent preparation of the Vuelta.
I'd love him to have a more balanced (crashless) season in which he's 100% prepared for the WC & the Italian classics.
So basically you agree with me that without the Olympics his season would not be considered great for a rider of his stature. His season would have been okay (3rd at TdF, winning TT WC ain't nothing to scoff at) but just okay for a rider of his stature. The olympics are what made this season memorable/good for Remco.
Reality is, Remco would have started this year with the believe he could win a great deal more than he actually won. He wanted to win Paris-Nice, Basque, at least 1 race from Fleche, Amstel, LBL, He would have wanted to go into the dauphine with better form needing only to finetune. Thus allowing him to win Belgian TT on the trot just by being able to show up.
I'm not saying Remco did not have a great season. he had, cause of how special that Olympic double is. But without that OG double I personally believe he would look back on this season with some dissapointment i'm sure. Happy with the TT WC title, and the podium but not fully satisfied. Now with OG double he will be satisfied with this season when looking back.