Originally Posted by surak

Spot on with Pogacar's performance and WvA/Alaphilippe hype deflation. The commentators said there were issues with his radio, but that didn't seem to throw him off at all. He's making a habit out of jaw-dropping TdF ITTs. The only superlatives that fit his rides ("incredible," "unbelievable," "otherworldly") can equally be taken at face value or not. He's clearly on a different level.

Think Roglic and Thomas are satisfied with their times given all their damage? Having the podium still possible is about as good as anyone other than Pogacar can hope for if nothing disastrous happens to any of the GC contenders. They both did better than what most were expecting.
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So much for the "Carapaz isn't as bad at time trialing" hope to have a legit threat to Pogacar. At least he wasn't as bad as Keldermann, who I'm relieved to not have given serious chances to in the other thread although I whiffed on every other Stage 5 prognostication.

I think ITTs in most stage races are boring, but with serious GC implications in the mix due to the type of contenders (i.e., many who aren't pure climbers) they can be quite the opposite like at this year's TdF. Especially when more conservative team tactics take the fireworks out of many mountainous stages.