Are you just supposed to go ahead and die if you are dehydrated? heh
The following is from:http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-3082.html
Feed zone and feeding rules 
During the Tour, riders must continuously replenish foods and liquids. Before, during, and after stages, cyclists’ eating and drinking habits are reminiscent of scenes of stokers shoveling coal into steam engines — they eat and drink that much.
Riders’ nutritional needs are the responsibility of individual teams, with some exception. During every Tour road stage, there’s a designated area on the course called the feed zone or feeding station. Team representatives carrying *musettes, *or feeding bags with sandwiches, fruit, and energy bars. They hand off supplies to riders as they advance through the feed zone. It’s cycling’s version of take-out food. New water bottles are also distributed to riders in the feed zone, but *musettes *and water bottles must be those supplied by Tour sponsors or otherwise Tour approved.
Outside the feed zone, riders in a breakaway can also receive supplies from their team managers’ vehicles or a Tour-supplied motorcycle. *Musettes *and water bottles can be used in these feeding options, but these resupply situations and the designated feed zone must follow Tour-established regulations.
So what did this guy do wrong:
“The T-Mobile rider has just taken a drink from his team car and been scolded by the race commissaire. “Feeding has finished!””
Got a drink, from his own team car, in a breakaway…whats the problem?
You cannot receive help from your team car 20k from the finish or at the base of the last climb on summit finishes. Any other time they can hand you a snack every mile if you want.
Bob
Ok, I see, now what is the motivation behind that rule? safety? better television?
I’m not sure of the exact situation but there’s usually a designated “end point” to support, espcially in mountain stages. The race directors don’t want a bunch of cars screwing with the race in the last 10k or so. I’m not sure what the cut off is, and I think it’s different for flat stages vs. mountain stages. Can you imagine a bunch sprint if there were cars allowed in the last 2k? That’s the point, to get the cars out of there when the racing is really on.
I’d say safety - 20k is only ~ 12 miles. That’s when things usually start to really heat up.
They were on a slope at 8%. Have you ever seen how they hand bottles over to racers? The rider and the driver hold the bottle for about 5 seconds. The rider soft pedals and gets to hitch a ride via the water bottle for a few seconds…
Ok, I see, now what is the motivation behind that rule? safety? better television?
A combination of safety (cars in the pack during the crucial moments or in the mountains in the pack with huge crowds) and fairness (think about the lingering bottle hand offs).
I see, that makes sense
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The rules aren’t different than in ANY other UCI race. Here in Denmark we use the same rules in all roadraces.
There is NO water or food from the teamcar the first 50 km. or the last 20 (or was it 30) km.
Forgive me, I am American and as such I didn’t know other UCI races existed
(hehe)
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What about from the fans? I always see once in a while someone offering water bottles, etc and some riders taking them to drink or cool down with.
Fans can and do whatever they want, but if you took a bottle from a fan on the side of the road and drank from it, you’re an idiot. Who on earth knows what is in the bottle. Cooling down is fine, but drinking, hell no.
Bob
I agree. I thought I remember something about Lance getting a bottle and he took a sip, and it had piss in it.
i can see not having all the cars around but what about using the motorbike which carries water for the riders
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That, and talk about offering yourself up for getting an easily traceable PED into your body if a fan of another rider is out to get the rest of the field.