"disraceful" - I think your typo is strangely appropriate. In the end, this is a race, and riding as fast as you can is exactly the normal way to race.

The teammate aspect and birthday aspect are pretty overblown. If the team have told them to race and not to wait for each other, then they should do exactly that. And the scheduling fluke of having a big stage on your birthday - is that really relevant?!

If Kuss manages to win it will be because he was strong enough, not because riders who could have beaten him decided not to try. Surely that is more worthy of respect than the strongest riders deciding to give him a gift.