For all the people getting stuck into Evans, you must be watching a different race. Contador's explosive attack on the Galibier was something else. And the only person willing and able to bridge the gap by himself - Cadel. Sure, Evans could not stay with Contador, but rather than take the easy option and slip back into the pack he had a crack by himself. Valverde had a bit of a go initially, but where was LL, Kloden, Mayo, Menchov, Sastre etc - you didn't see any of them having a go.
The real work yesterday was done by Gutierrez and Cobo while the rest took shelter except for Evans and Contador.
And in the last 1.5km, Evans dragged everyone up the climb only to have Valverde steal the glory (and time) for 2nd (for the 2nd time in 2 stages).
Letting the gap open on the descent was a lapse in concentration from Cadel - but it had no bearing on the result of the race.