I don't know too much about racing yet, but is it a bit weird to have your two strongest teammates up the road going for the stage? Would it not have been better to have them back and helping Simoni? With 3 guys it could have been attack after attack against Di Luca to break him and give Simoni a chance to gain some time.
Instead two teammates take a 1-2 win, Ricco is now close to Simoni in standings, and Simoni lost time to Di Luca.