I don't really buy the "they let him take 20 minutes in the mountains." If they would have drag him down that day, they would of been more tired the other days.
It seemed as though he finished in the top 10 in practically every mountain stage last year.... so it seems like he can climb every day.
He was down 5:12 after stage 7 (end of flats), and lost over 7 minutes on the last TT to lance, but finished only 11minutes back overall in the end.
I'm assuming its conceivable he can keep his bike upright through a whole TT this year.