skippo12 said:
In 2015 he was isolated as well. Not sure why you think he had the best team in the race.
I agree that he isn`t a PR contender but his performance in this years Ronde suggests that he can at least top 10 in a cobbled classic.
Among the best GC riders Fuglsang and Dumoulin might be a little bit better but today showed that it isn`t about the individual level. Without help staying in front of the group costs a lot of energy.
Sure, I'm not saying he's bad on cobbles. Far from it, he's obviously pretty good at them for a GC rider. Just that perhaps expectations on him were too high, based on performances in his Astana days. He was never going to get the same kind of help and positioning today as he did back in 2014-15.
I think Dumoulin and Fuglsang were both way more impressive today, not just a little better. They also both had very little team support but were at the front all race and tried multiple attacks each.