And in 2020 and 2021 he was placed really high in the Tour, always by following and barely ever visible or picked up on camera. Despite wearing neon pink. The 2020 Tour was when I first raised the "if you took him out the race nobody would notice" comment, and since then he has done nothing to change that until yesterday. Just "being in a high GC position" doesn't preclude ninjadom if the only thing you did to get there was ninjadom. Since, you know, that's the entire point of ninjadom.
The only reason his last few seasons are saved from absolute ninja status is his off-bike persona, and the fact that he's simply a better bike racer than post-2006 Zubeldia, so he can achieve higher results and will occasionally be picked up on camera as a result.