Originally Posted by
do-well
I just think about it as the corporatization of sport. There's a quality of product that is trying to be protected and, given the build-up to and advertising of the product, Andy Schleck is a big part of this year's product.
Protectionism will lead to lessor product in future years. Crashing and injuries are part of of every major sport. Even the premier athletes arent immune from it. If the Schlecks had gotten dropped then guess what...a new rider that maybe people didnt know about would be at the top and then NEXT year when the schlecks came back not only would you have the shlecks but a NEW rider that maybe no had heard of.
In short the tour is better when it
doesnt protect its elite riders in this way. In fact in the long run its worse for them. That and it looks bloody awful to the casual fan to "protest" like that. the TdF will lose far more viewers allowing that crap to happen than it will if through the course of a race a top contender gets dropped from an accident or injury.