Did he? Classics he rode a great BP, against a shitty WVA, and a great AGR. He was *** at FW and LBL. Then he was *** at Romandie, Dauphine and TDF when he needed to climb. Sure he did great ITT's, but that's a different kind of effort and when you sit perfectly on a bike it's a bit easier.
I expected much more of him, because at no time did he gave me the impression that maybe something was wrong. Sure Dauphine was ***, but they said it was allergies. NC RR he couldn't close the gap to Wellens, but he worked the most all day. There were reasons to think it would be fine. Until he actually completely collapsed during the TDF, and was dropped by 80 riders.