I respect the heritage and tradition of the tour as much as the next guy, but doesn't it go a little far with the unwritten rules of the tour and attitudes of the racers sometimes?? For example, "gifts"... the whole concept of a "gift" has no part of racing - it makes for crappy watching, is bad for the sport, and does nothing for the gift recipient becuase it makes him look like he can't compete - this isn't the special olympics, it's the Tour. Lance had a "no gift policy" this year, but sure looked like he tried to gift one to Landis and possibly even Basso. Also, was just reading in another thread about Ullrich not wanting to attack at a good opportunity because he didn't want to drop his own teammate Kloden. WTF??? Ullrich is the team leader - if he sees an opportunity to make time, then god dammit do it and give us a reason to watch the race. What about no attacking the yellow jersey on the way to Paris. Last time I checked, when the white flag drops in most forms of racing, it's on like Donkey Kong - in in the TDF, it's a picnic with champagne and the riders hugging eachother and whispering sweet nothings in eachothers ears... gimme a break and let's see some racing! How about not attacking the yellow jersey when he has a problem - this is racing, son, if $#!+ happens, fix it and get back to racing. Let's not stop the race while the yellow jersey trues up his wheel and puts on some more chamois cream. It's not fair that the yellow jersey gets this type of benefit, when other color jerseys don't - that's not racing. How about these BS rules about letting a Frenchman win on Bastille Day - what is this a French parade or the Tour de freakin' France?? The list goes on - special rules when there's a birthday, rules about giving away stages when there's been a trajedy, blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate some of this in the name of tradition, but I hope the racing part of the TDF doesn't become obscured any more than it already has.