Well if he had to make that move to win, and if he was to screw up (not make the pass), the other riders were goingto crash. Sure he wasn't just thinking that he was going to win, or take them out.
The real problem was making that comment to the media. I'm sure his dad told him something like, "Don't ever make a comment like that. Just say it was a tough pass, but I was confident I could make it."