“Am I missing something here?”
It’s what makes the TdF a little bit special.
At the time of the big pile-up Cancellara was clear with a small group.
But his Team GC riders were back in the pack along with most of the other GC riders. He could have said “To heck with it, it’s a race, every man for himself” and took off.
Instead he held back the pace allowing everyone, well almost everyone, to catch up. It would have then been bad form for the sprinters to then jump past the people who waited on them and sprint in for the gloy and points.
I think this was a little bit “riders pissed at the course selection” and a whole lot of the special “TdF sportsmanship.”
Just my opinion of course.
Well put, Pete.