Right. If there had not been the headwinds in the later stages, Dado's advantage would have been diminished, and maybe Smith could have held on.
Conversely, let's look at Merga.; for whatever reason, he chose not to draft as much in the latter stages as he possibly might have. There were times when he went shoulder-to-shoulder. Kurui motioned him up to share the load; but he also threw in surge tactics to shake him. Maybe Kurui was purposely (or not) flicking sweat off on him when he got too close.