"Today Heinrich was just a tiny bit off. It doesn't surprise me he had a bit of a problem after 300km because he raced 20 days [in 2010] because of his injures. He doesn't have a Grand Tour in his legs, he doesn't have the foundation. I said it's going to be a bit of a comeback season for him and I'm right. He's almost there to have the foundation to do 300km."
Even if a classics stud has an anonymous Tour or Vuelta, he could be setting himself up for big things months later.
Interesting analysis by J Vaughters (MSR Spoiler)
Moderator: mfarnham