Scotl_99, you've done a very good explaining of the­ stategies involved and I understand better now. I know­ that the analogy with golfing doesn't stand but in­ was in response to a previous comment about­ sportsmanship. I understand when on one-on-one­ whoever's sealed the Tour steps aside for the other­ guy to take the glory for a day. On stage 13 though I­ was under the impression that Columbia had asked (or­ was silently expected) that a few teams (not two­ riders, but 20 plus) slow down enough to calculate that­ their rider in front,GH, gets the yellow even if­ everybody is expecting him to lose it the next day! Why­ Garmin's and AG2r acceleration was not­ sportsmanship that I don't understand. At least you­ explained that strategically was a lot of effort. What­ they got out of it no one knows. On a simpler note I­ enjoyed yesterday's last 5 km when at last­ everybody raced for themselves.

In regards to post number 67. Ivanov did run a­ brilliant stage. His escape at the end was a thing of­ beauty. No one should suggest that he shouldn't­ have competed and that it wasn't a deserving­ victory. This isn't about Ivanov, Roche or anyone­ else in the breakaway.
Garmin should be working to get­ their two top ten riders into the best possible­ position in the GC. Again, though, you have to look at­ the tactics used in terms of the overall strategy.­ Neither Wiggins or Vandevelde was in position to gain­ time yesterday. While it could be argued that it might­ be tougher to tack time back from Columbia than AG2RR,­ this point is rather moot as Nocentini won't be in­ yellow by the end of Tuesday's stage and AG2RR has­ been shaky the last couple of days. Hincapie also­ won't be able to stay with the top GC contenders­ through the time trial stage. Garmin going to the front­ and riding tempo seems like an awful lot of effort for­ very little reward.
I haven't seen anyone decry­ what happened yesterday as an injustice. It just­ didn't make strategic sense. Cycling is a sport of­ alliances. Columbia and Hincapie will remember this and­ sometime when Garmin needs help with something, it­ won't be available from them.
The Tiger Woods­ analogy doesn't fit either. Golf as a competition­ is a four day event. No prizes exist for having the­ best score after the first day and none exist for other­ skills. The Open Championship doesn't have a best­ putter award or a longest drive award. Everything is­ focused on one goal. The Tour de France has four­ separate overall competitions and 22 separate races.­ The goals, focus and motivations of the riders varies­ greatly. Success is defined many ways in a stage­ cycling race. In golf, success is defined only by­ having the lowest score after four rounds.

I get it. Garmin with two riders in top 10 are short­ sighted morons for helping AGr2 in their "weak­ efforts" to keep yellow. Perhaps they both should­ have rolled over to the american cos he's nearing­ the end of career. Is it all about americans? How about­ GH in the days of LA always being the chaser? Other­ people have lost much more than GH for even a fraction­ of second. What's all this noise about­ "injustice" for not letting him getting the­ yellow just for one day? If he wanted it so bad he­ could have pushed a bit more instead of whining. How­ about "well done Ivanov"! Their beloved­ T.Woods wouldn't gift the Open to Garcia who's­ missed one by a single shot and may not get another­ chance, would he? In any other sport I don't hear­ so much noise for not calculating things enough to­ "gift" the glory to someone.

Bryan O is correct about the rules of sportsmanship in­ cycling. There is a degree of honor that is an expected­ part of the sport. It is quite common for someone to­ stop and wait for a rival after a crash. Armstrong did­ this for Ullrich. Ullrich got criticized for not doing­ a better job of this in 2003 when Armstrong crashed. I­ have seen the pace of the peloton slowed when a veteran­ rider was in danger of being disqualified in an attempt­ to allow them to continue the Tour, (I believe it was­ for Voight....he wasn't able to finish the­ stage..this was four or five years ago). Lemond did­ allow Hinault to cross first at Alp d'Huez. The­ other examples Bryan O cited were also on target. These­ things are more a matter of priority though than match­ fixing. Lemond had effectively wrapped up the tour so­ winning Alp d'Huez wasn't that important to­ him. Same with Armstrong with regards to Pantani on­ Ventoux. This isn't match fixing so much as being­ focused on a main priority and allowing others to be­ recognized for a good day.
In regards to Garmin on­ Saturday, the rationale given for them to be on the­ front was rather tepid and somewhat flimsy, (they were­ worried about a break in the peloton...). A team needs­ to follow a necessary strategy to win. However, not­ allowing Hincapie to get yellow really didn't have­ much to do with that for Garmin. Wiggins and Vandevelde­ would have faced essentially the same time deficits.­ Again, it is a matter of priority. Did Garmin's­ tactics truly fit their priorities as a team in regards­ to GC or the green jersey?
Ultimately, people are­ right that Hincapie shouldn't be given anything. In­ truth, he wasn't. Hincapie positioned himself well­ and more or less kept the break organized for a long­ period of time. No dishonor exists in coming up short.­ Getting the yellow would have been a fitting honor for­ his efforts. He wouldn't have held for more than a­ couple of days. He may have it after today.

My comment will seem naive to a lot of people but I­ like to follow the Tour though I understand little­ about cycling. Even less now! On a day when someone­ should be congratulated for coming first after 200km,­ this is called a disgrace for cycling because people­ didn't calculate well enough for GH in yellow or­ win the stage!? On the next stage could we please step­ aside and give yellow to BW or whoever? Just for a­ taste, then real contenders can have it back on the­ last day or something. It's not tough enough for an­ attack apparently even today. It seems more to be about­ politics, favours, calculations, then the approar that­ one day there were no radios to rely on. Every stage­ seems to be predicted, bunch sprint, wake me up on the­ last km to watch 2mins excitement; 20km flat to finish­ from a cat1 climb, no one will attack, there's no­ point. I thought it was supposed to be a race, why do­ people seem so peeved about GH, he's been on this­ Tour long enough to have done the same perhaps.

The last paragraph of my post got cut off towards the­ end. I wanted to finish it up properly:

While­­ Hincapie is an all around cyclist, it is doubtful that­­ his climbing or time trialing skills would be enough­ to­ keep him in yellow if he'd taken the yellow­ jersey­ today. It would not surprise me to see him in­ yellow­ after tomorrow. The Alps will open up the­ racing, but my­ guess is that the GC contenders will­ mostly end up­ riding together. Evans may try to go­ tomorrow, but I­ have a feeling that unless Silence­ Lotto puts up an­ extraordinary team performance he­ will be pulled back­ in. Neither Armstrong or Contador­ really will have­ impetus to attack tomorrow. They­ simply can wait for­ Nocentini to fade. Sastre is also­ likely to wait.­ Anything is possible, but I would not­ be surprised to­ see Hincapie one second ahead of­ Contador after­ tomorrow's stage. Contador will­ likely have the­ yellow jersey after the time trial on­ Thursday. Anything could happen on the road to Ventoux,­ but I think Contador is in good position.

Bryan O - In any other sport this would be classed as­ match fixing!

NO GIFTS! Do you guys even follow cycling? It's­ called sportsmanship. Alejandro Valverde allowed­ Sylvester Szmyd to win Mount Ventoux at this year's­ Dauphine Libere. Armstrong let Pantanni win Ventour.­ Armstrong let Basso win a stage. Hamilton slowed the­ attack on Tourmalet when Lance crashed. Lance waited­ for Ullrich when he crashed. There's a billion­ other examples of capable racers being given the glory­ of the day for their sponsors and their pro record.
The­ Tour is not won in a day. No one views GH as a gc­ threat. Nearing the end of his career it sure would­ have been nice if the other American team allowed an­ American racer to get the yellow and a 2 second mention­ on ESPN's Sportscenter to promote cycling in the­ States. But short sighted morons supported AG2r in­ their weak effort to keep the yellow. LAME. Although­ their have been admirable breakaway efforts the Tour­ has been LAME since Andorra. Prudhomme even ruined­ Tourmalet with 70 km of downhill. If their is no race­ to the summit at Verbier tomorrow, I will follow the­ Tour and pro cycling with the same enthusiasm as most­ Americans and turn it off.

Well surely the best sprinter IS the most consistent­ finisher. That is what the jersey is all about.

Funny no one mentioned it but Spain's Alberto­ Contador only won the tour last time he raced because­ Rassmusen was ban so he won by default?

A few thoughts. First off, it is neat to see great­ classic riders having great stages. Ivanov and Heussler­ were both quite impressive as was Sorenson. Ideally, a­ stage race should showcase cyclists of all disciplines.­ I think that the various stages this past week were set­ up to do that. Secondly, the race for the polka-dot and­ green jersey's have been quite competitive. In­ terms of the green, this has gone back and forth. I­ think Hushovd has benefitted from his experience and­ better overall skills. Still, the Champs-Elysees should­ be quite interesting next Sunday. Pelizotti has done a­ good job of picking a goal and taking the steps­ necessary to accomplish it. This contest is far from­ over, though. The Alps could see someone else rise up­ and take the polka dots.
Someone said HTC has been­ looking increasingly fatigued. I agree with that. They­ have spent lots of time on the front and are bound to­ be wearing down. I think a bigger factor today, though,­ was the absence of Hincapie to help organize the sprint­ for Columbia. Hincapie's experience is vital to­ Columbia and all of its goals. His breakaway today­ deprived them of a needed element in the sprint.
While­ Hincapie is an all around cyclist, it is doubtful that­ his climbing or time trialing skills would be enough to­ keep him in yellow if he'd taken the yellow jersey­ today. It would not surprise me to see him in yellow­ tomorrow. The Alps will open up the racing, but my­ guess is that the GC contenders will mostly end up­ riding together. Evans may try to go tomorrow, but I­ have a feeling that unless Silence Lotto puts up an­ extraordinary team performance he will be pulled back­ in. Neither Armstrong or Contador really will have­ impetus to attack tomorrow. They simply can wait for­ Nocentini to fade. Sastre is also likely to wait.­ Anything is possible, but I would not be surprised to­ see Hincapie one second ahead of Contador after­ tomorrow's stage. Contador will likely have the­ yellow jersey after the time

iancampbell11 - Isn't the aim of this new team to­ have a British winner of the TDF and or to be based­ around British talent, thus, the first riders one would­ look at would be British then one would build a team­ around those riders. As he has only just started­ looking, I assume he would only be looking at British­ riders at this stage.

IT will be an English speaking rider that has the bio­ passport problem not necessarily a Brit.

Why should Garmin care about Hincapie one way or the­ other. I agree with comment 51 "no gifts", it­ really brings no credit to the yellow jersey to hand it­ round like an old boy's club.

to liz s if you have videoed the finish as you­ said, please look again and you will see the offence ­ just before moving across and stopping thor you can­ clearly see cav look round and see him, he then pulls­ the oldest trick in the sprinters book and has a long­ look on the left hand side pretending no offence has­ been comitted !
and by the way the green jersey isnt­ for the best sprinter it is for the most consistent­ finisher,

Brailsford let it slip today that one of the riders he­ approached for his new team had an irregular bio­ passport. Could this be a British rider? As I imagine­ he would only be approaching British riders at this­ stage. I trust that he will be or has informed the­ UCI/ASO of his findings and when will this information­ be made public?

I think Cav's behaviour today has been a somewhat­ disappointing. I noticed that he had an attitude with­ one of the Soigneurs (but with no sound on the footage)­ as he got onto the team bus. I suspect it had something­ to do with Hincapie taking priority over his green­ jersey. Cav you're a brilliant rider but don't­ let yourself down, don't blow your cool.

RIDICULOUS HEADLINE EUROSPORT!!
IVANOV DIDN'T DENY­ HINCAPIE. ACTUALLY HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FRONT­ GUYS TO GO FASTER AS THEY HAD TO PURSUE HIM FOR STAGE­ VICTORY.

Armstrong said himself after the 2000 TdF, there are no­ gift stage wins or yellow jerseys. So why does he now­ think Hincapie deserves some sort of a gift? If George­ had won the stage, he'd be in yellow. Simple as­ that.