carpediemracing 

^ If it's a 2 day race and the second day isn't in the cards then I think it's okay.

I've never finished a proper stage race, btw, and it isn't because I quit. I always got eliminated at the end of the first day (2 day race) or third day (4 day race, at least it was 4 stages). Whenever the RR happened I was out. My first stage race was a 2 RR stage race and they let me start the second stage because pity. I got shelled almost immediately.

What I'm saying is that if there was a stage race and there were some flatter bits in the first days and I was feeling magnanimous then it might be that I start the race with the intent to help teammates knowing full well I wouldn't make the cut on the queen stage. Heck many (most?) of the road races I started were like that, I knew I wouldn't be in the field after the first lap so I just worked for my teammates, dropped out, and headed home.