My good friend Nate, now in Portland, follows the Tour de France more closely than anyone else I know. I look for the headlines when they're posted, but admit to not really understanding the nuances that make bicycle racing so interesting. This article, originally from the Los Angeles Times, summarizes one reason for it's appeal.
This Tour has been filled with examples of these unwritten rules of the road, of the small demonstrations of courtesy and honest friendship among the men who ride together...