A. yes
B. yes (in the early days, early 1900)
C. by having a bunch of kick ass bike riders ;-)
More seriously, I think the top 15 of the pro tour automatically gets in, then some teams are chosen based on specific races where riders have to do well...
it's of course very subjective and biased as the giro selects a lot of italian teams, the Tour, a lot of french teams, and the vuelta...you guess...

Have teams ever blown up mid Tour and become a bunch of individuals rather than a team?

are you watching the Tour this year? ;-)

My guess - Jan vs blue uniform guy?

I understand why "Blue Uniform Guy" gets to be "Blue Uniform Guy" but why would he want to be. Isn't that somewhat a slap in the face to the rest of the team? He's already said he's done with T-Mobile and the only team he'll race for is Discovery.

from cyclingnews...

Vinokourov has been courted by several big teams, and there is speculation that he may end up at Cofidis, Credit Agricole, or Ag2r next year. Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel denied that his team was interested in signing the attacking T-Mobile rider.

"He's certainly one of the toughest and most intelligent riders in the peloton at the moment," Bruyneel told L'Equipe. "But I don't think he's capable of winning the Tour de France."

...ouch...

Yep, Vino is getting on in age, and Discovery has been, lately, signing on more young riders that can contend for GC in the future. That, plus Vino is a wildcard in any race. As I think I stated in another post, good for one day races, not good for grand tours.

Chris

Vino HAS to wear the jersey...every national road race champion has to wear the jersey for the rest of the calendar year at least (UCI rule)...

Vino's (A.K.A. "Blue Uniform Guy") kit has got to be the most talked about topic on ST over the last couple weeks.

It's an honor to wear your country's champion jersey. Nobody's offended.

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Father Kevin

http://www.churchofcycling.org