Watching the final few kilometers of Stage 9, it may be hard to understand why the two breakaway riders paused to think about tactics with the peloton breathing down their necks. After working together so well for so many kilometers, their momentary hesitation cost them both the chance for a stage victory.

Inigo Landaluze and Filippo Simeoni were 30 seconds in front of the charging peloton just two kilometers from the finish line. They entered the final kilometer with 15 seconds advantage. They had enough time in hand to reach the finish line before the peloton, and the worst either man could do was finish second. It was each man’s desire to win the stage that eliminated either rider’s chances of a high placing. How could they squander the chance to win a stage of the Tour de France so close to the finish? We all saw the peloton bearing down on them, how could they not have known the sprinters were so close?

As you approach the finish line, the commissar pulls all the vehicles out of the gap between the breakaway and the peloton, including the motorbike that normally gives breakaway riders information about time splits. Even the race radio often stops providing time splits within the final few kilometers. The last information Landaluze and Simeoni probably received was that they had 30 seconds with two kilometers to go, and maybe that they had 15 seconds with 1000 meters to go.

The final two kilometers of Stage 9 were also quite curvy and technical, which normally gives the breakaway riders an advantage, but may have been their undoing today. Looking over their shoulders, neither Landaluze or Simeoni caught sight of the peloton until the final 400 meters of the stage. By that time the sprinters had already started their rush to the line and the breakaway duo didn’t have the power to accelerate and reach the line first.

All racing cyclists can learn a lesson from today’s finish. If you have less than a minute’s advantage with two kilometers remaining in the race, you have a split second to make a very important decision. If you put your head down and race all-out for the finish line, you can reach the finish line with a chance to win the race. The worst you can do is finish as the last man in the breakaway. If you decide to play tactical games with your breakaway companions, you’re likely to see the front of the peloton stream by you in the final straightaway.

Inigo Landaluze and Filippo Simeoni should be proud of the efforts they put forth today, but unfortunately for them, the only thing Tour de France history will record is that Robbie McEwen won Stage 9 in a field sprint. That’s a heavy price to pay for a moment’s hesitation, but that’s how it goes in bike racing.