Originally Posted by
Caretaker
Just to clarify for those who didn't see this on TV. Levi had just earlier overcooked a corner and damaged his bike and so had to wait for the teamcar replacement. This had them chasing the peleton about 50sec down when the moto accident happened. It was noticable on the descent that Levi was having difficulty keeping up with his team mates plus Movistar on the front of the peleton were setting a high pace which was adding to the pressure.
I'd just add that they had been working for a long time and only pulled back 10-15 seconds. I think there was a pretty good chance that some of the riders might have made it past the down riders if the Moto had not been there, but almost no chance that all the riders would have. Absolutely zero chance they would have made it by without losing some time, and very little chance they would ahve made it past without losing organization and at least 20 seconds overall.
Their chances were slim, they were having only one chance once the other riders went down, a crach in the main group that caught the other contenders.
EDIT: In hindsight I don't think they had any chance of pulling back the time even before the riders in front of them went down. What they did have was a cahnce of pulling back a bit more of it and also being in a position that if anythign happened ahead of them to catch up. That anythign did not have to be as dramatic as a crash, just disagreement up front as to who should be working. Just a bit of confusion and working things out would have let them get back, and as pros they had to work to be erady to take advantage of a chance that might open up.