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Holding the Peloton
I have been following the Tour de France for over twenty years, long before the Armstrong years, and I have never seen the race director stopping the race. There were two rather spectacular and large wrecks that happened within minutes of each other, forcing three riders to leave the race on the spot, and injuring many others, including the Maillot Jaune, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing). This was hardly the first time there have been big wrecks in the Tour, but it was decided by Christian Prudhomme that with all of the medics and doctors seeing to riders so far behind the front of the race, it wasn't safe to let the race continue. I believe the logic was that should there be a life threatening injury, it would take far too long to get medical attention to the fallen competitor. Needless to say his stopping gesture was returned by some rather angry rude gesture from the men in spandex.