In retrospect, waiting for your team leader was a bad decision, because he had to DNF.
But if he had been able to continue the race and they'd got him back to the péloton (unlikely as that may have been) it would have been absolutely the right decision, and they weren't going to stand any chance of getting him back without toasting that many riders to chase. Think of Caisse d'Epargne on the way in to Suancés in 2008 (though Valverde proved that he's stupid by riding away from his own domestiques trying to close the gap solo).
OK, so Sky aren't wearing the white jersey anymore. Thomas would probably have lost it to Gesink tomorrow anyway, don't see what one day in a jersey when you've already held it for most of a week really matters in the grand scheme of things.
But if he had been able to continue the race and they'd got him back to the péloton (unlikely as that may have been) it would have been absolutely the right decision, and they weren't going to stand any chance of getting him back without toasting that many riders to chase. Think of Caisse d'Epargne on the way in to Suancés in 2008 (though Valverde proved that he's stupid by riding away from his own domestiques trying to close the gap solo).
OK, so Sky aren't wearing the white jersey anymore. Thomas would probably have lost it to Gesink tomorrow anyway, don't see what one day in a jersey when you've already held it for most of a week really matters in the grand scheme of things.