Speed Kills

It's been the ascertion by many that the "true" effect of having a clean Tour would be a decrease in the average speed of the peloton. Below is this tidbit from Cyclingnews.

"At 35.81 km/h the stage was one of the slowest ones in modern cycling...The slow speeds meant the peloton arrived after six o'clock in the evening for the first time since 1998. Of course back then they were on strike and sat on the roadway for an extended period of time on two occasions before riding a non-competitive stage as a protest to the police raids that were initiated due to the Festina affair."
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On the other hand, Versus' commentators Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen offered that the prior days' events (the Tour kick-off), the mini-transfer to the continent, and the headwinds were all to blame for the peloton's lack of speed and disinterest in going all out.

I really enjoy Phil and Paul's commentary, their colloquialisms, their passion for the sport, and their knowledge. I even appreciate their understated and reserving judgement attitude toward doping.

And although their explanations above may be true, I can't help but feel that they do the sport a disservice by not raising the possibility that what they're selling may not be as romantic as we'd all like it to be.