Originally Posted by TheKillerPenguin

But it's a 3 week long tour and it was day 9, and 4 seconds lost to Froome when compared to losing 15 to Bardet is the lesser of two bad choices, and Froome wasn't guaranteed to snag that time bonus, he was just strong enough to do so. Let's say they made Froome close the gap himself, there is still no guarantee they can outsprint him at the end AND they lose those seconds to Bardet. Or maybe Froome is better at playing chicken than they are and he refuses to work because he knows he's stronger than everyone else, so Aru loses a bunch of time and then has to work a ton anyway.

There are way more unknowns sitting on Froome's wheel than there are working with him. You don't gamble like that when the time gaps are so close and you still have 2 weeks of racing to go.