I remember that Epafel even resigned Santi Pérez, David Blanco, David Bernabéu and Claus Michael Møller for that race, but they still stood no chance.
The only other times I've seen the
péloton miss the time cut was because they sat up and let the break go, like the Voigt/Pereiro break in the 2006 Tour, but when Pourseyedi took off with 90km remaining and only Mizbani, Askari, Alarcón, César Veloso and João Cabreira could respond, that was the only time I've seen the péloton allowed to stay in the race under the
literal definition of a mercy rule. I think there was only the chase group of Sayar, Dani Díaz, the Rojas brothers and Rui Sousa that managed to stay inside the time cut.