I'm pretty sure it was burning himself out, he did a lot of study (a lot more then me anyway). It's best to take breaks so your always have a clear head and can think straight.
Yeah it's true. Happened to a friend of mine. We were both really close throughout the whole year in MX1 and MX2 with like 1% at most separating us. Then in the trial I beat him by ~30% in both. I'm pretty sure he just overworked himself.