Mistakes happen and I usually have a lot of respect for Luke Rowe as a bike rider. But this move was not okay, especially not coming from a rider with his experience and skillset in cobbled terrain. You'd expect him to be experienced and cold-headed enough to hold his own line or at least stop his bike. Apparently, he has since explained that he could not control his bike. Even if that is true, he still seemed to be aware that a group was coming up from behind with high speed. In my opinion, it looked like he could have just stopped the bike and waited for them to go past.
A shame really - for everyone involved. Rowe's aggressive attitude on social media about this particular incident doesn't really help him either, but I can't say I am too surprised to see him react like that. Having listened to his podcast with G Thomas, it seems to be a recurring feature in Rowe's life that he receives a lot of fan "abuse" whenever people disagree with him.