I was actually a little disappointed in almost everyone yesterday — I understand they’re exhausted, and maybe a little bit shaken by the incident with the tacks on the road, but, other than 5 or 6 guys, it was a very poor showing. Was rooting for Vande Velde at the end there, but not to be :(
Phil seemed peeved too, he tends to be a little sarcastic anyway, but he made several biting, but true, comments about the lack of initiative in the pack. I did chuckle at the “oops, it’s a woman, so hard to tell these days” incident.
Was surprised at the situation the day before with Teejay and Cadel. Teejay knows his role, and he has been performing it all along, and very well. I don’t know if he has had enough of retreating to drag “can’t keep up Cadel” back up over and over, and didn’t want to lose the white jersey doing it yet again, or if he really did not understand what was going on in the mess of flat tires and breakdowns.
Tejay is a strong rider and excellent climber, so he would not likely give up a bike or wheel at that point. So it is rational to assume that he expected someone else on the team to be close and offer up a wheel so that Cadel could catch him and he could work to take him back to the bunch.
In fairness, I think a lot of the problem was the tiny road and top of the climb.