What some of us don't like about what Tony Martin did yesterday, is that it was hypocritical. Most of us can agree, that if the Tour is raced in a fairly controlled manner, coming down to a few MTF's and an ITT, then it is very likely that either Bernal, Roglic or Dumoulin win the race. Jumbo hold two of those three cards. And Luke Rowe (who was also acting a little as a self appointed patron of the peloton) is a teammate of Bernal.
If teams like Astana race 'by the book', then they might get a 7th or 8th place finish in Paris for MAL. I am not suggesting that their tactics to attack on that descent last night were at all sensible. Firstly, MAL is not known as a strong descender. Secondly, there was a lot of flat road to the finish after the descent, making it incredibly difficult to retain any lead gained on the descent. That isn't the point of this argument though.
Jumbo have a very strong team, and Tony Martin is included within that. Tony is an excellent judge of pace (look at his amazing record in ITT's); there is probably nobody better to have racing alongside of you as a guide for the best pace to race at. It shouldn't particularly matter to him and his team if Astana go off the front and try to gain time. Obviously though, IF more teams go off the front, then the more potentially chaotic the race becomes, which is what the STRONG team does not want.
Let's say that 10 secondary GC contenders attacked on that descent, and that they put the hammer down so much that they gained 2 minutes (on the soft pedalling peloton), but in taking those extra risks, 5 of those riders crashed. Even then those 5 survivors still have 30 or so kms of flat road in which to hold off the peloton. They are probably unlikely to gain any time.
However, some might consider a rider such as MAL to be a 0% chance of winning the Tour De France if it is raced predictably. But if it is unpredictable....well, some chance is better than no chance. Anyway, in short, each rider and team is free to race as safely (or aggressively) as they choose, and any criticism of the racing situation being too dangerous should be directed at the race organisers (who can after all stop the stage, or at least put a yellow light on it for a period).
P.S. I personally cannot fathom what those riders put themselves through. I would never have the courage to do what they do. But that isn't an argument that they shouldn't take risks, that they shouldn't have the opportunity to take risks. This is the Tour De France. There are others willing/wanting to take their place.