Originally Posted by same time
It doesn't physically slow the lead rider down, but since he has been tactically neutralized, he will probably give up and rejoin the pack.
It doesn't always work, though - early on in the 1995 Tour De France, Miguel Indurain broke away on a flat stage, and an ONCE domestique went out to "drag him back". Indurain didn't give up, and dragged the guy something like 50 kilometers to the finish. Indurain was beaten in the sprint, but he gained some time and mentally deflated his rivals back in the pack.
Ah, your response seems to be addressing what I was actually trying to find out. I may not have fully understood the situations on this, but you mention "tactically neutralized" - then you refer to an example with Indurain.
The impression I had of the situations was that a rider who was competitive for the overall lead would try to break away. This, of course, would be a threat to other top competitors, like Armstrong.
So, when the breakaway happened, teammate of Armstrong (just as an example) would jump out with the breakaway person to pull him back. However, this person trying to drag him back would not be a threat for the overall win.
If that is the case, why would someone care if another rider got behind them if it either had no effect or if a person behind can actually help the person in front a little? I can see they may not like someone on their wheel, but they ride that way a lot at that level so it doesn't seem that it would bother the front person much and I see no tactical harm, other than missing a time bonus, it causes them.
But, like I said, maybe I didn't understand all that was happening.