I'm not sure what
can be done.
Quintana would have taken time anyway, and he definitely deserves some credit for that (as does everyone who rode the stage, to me annulling the results would basically be the same as going
"You know what? Let's just pretend you never rode this stage anyway." don't think any of the riders would be happy with
that.)
So, how would anyone even know what time was taken "unfairly" and what wasn't? If Quintana and co. should have some of their time taken away, shouldn't the people in charge go all the way through the riders to see if anyone else passed the moto? Then some people might turn out to have missed the time-cut...
I can't find the article with the radio-message, so I'll be honest and admit I simply don't remember if it ever said "do not pass the moto with the red flag." All I remember is; "Stay in your group." That's where it gets kinda complicated; to me "stay in your group." doesn't just mean; "don't attack." it could also mean "don't get dropped." As far as I remember the Quintana group stayed together all the way down, and had already left the Uran group behind before the top, so nobody broke the "stay in your group." rule, that group just went somewhat faster than the Uran group.
Not only do we have the question of whether or not the riders knew they (possibly) weren't supposed to pass the red flag, there's also another question:
Could they even see the flag? Yes, I know it's pretty clear on that picture, but when you're hurtling down-hill and your glasses get covered in rain/snow, well... seeing
does become a bit of an issue.
I'll have to agree with the various people who've stated that when you have a leader's jersey you keep your eyes open to what's going on around you, no matter
what some (ambigious) radio-message tells you, or at least you go ask what it meant, which nobody did. Can't help but thinking that this mess is rather great for you anti-radio people around; without radios
nobody would've gotten the "neutralisation" message.
Then they came down to the valley, where I'd say it's pretty safe to say that the race was definitely on again; in Quintana's group
everyone took turns pulling in the front, in Uran's group it was, for most of the time... Rogers and a Quickstep-guy. Yep, that'll help.
As for the final climb; I'll say it's pretty safe to assume that Quintana would've left everyone behind anyway.
So, for now I think the only thing they
can do is letting the results stand, but start thinking of a way to have some clearer rules about all this, and better communication, ASAP!
(okay... horrible disjoined post...)