Oh yes, he definitely did. He had a bigger chainring fitted to the bike for that particular stage, and even though the attack was a spur-of-the-moment thing, it was obvious he had rehearsed the technique in training, and this was stated as so. He left his main opposition, chiefly Quintana, floundering. Nevertheless, as I recall, he was some kilometres an hour faster on that descent that all the other drafting riders.

And SpeshulEd is spot-on. Gangly comes to mind.