Ah, the good old days on the Tour de France, when the riders slept in hammock-like beds in sweltering auberges, when breakfast was usually steak and spaghetti, when they raced on heart and panache, rather than science and technology. Those were the days that the Tour organisation paid tribute to on stage ten of the 2009 Tour.

The sentimental yearning for a less complicated Tour, when the riders made tactical decisions themselves and when sports science and power output was an unheard of conceit, was the motor behind the experimental veto on telecommunications between riders and team cars on the road from Limoges to Issoudun.

The decision to ban race radios during the Bastille Day stage was, like the flawed routing through the Pyrenees, a mistake. The radio ban was based on a rose-tinted nostalgia for an era that the French remember with great affection. But then who can blame them? After all, at least they used to win the race back then.

The modern Tour rider sleeps in air-conditioned hotels, has his own chef, tweets or blogs incessantly and relies on telecommunications throughout his working day. The Tour’s ultimate professional, Lance Armstrong, was very much against the radio ban, but then it’s worth noting that the Texan’s first European sponsor, Motorola, was also responsible for introducing them.

In the end however, after all the fuss, the ban didn’t have any significant impact, other than making an inconsequential and bland stage that bit more anonymous, as professional athletes used to having instructions barked at them through an earpiece, seemed slightly lost.

If it hadn’t been for Mark Cavendish’s remarkable victory, there would have been little to remember of the day’s racing. The 24 year old, who paced himself through the Pyrenees, appears to have kept his fast finish, despite the Tour having reached the halfway point. More success is likely before the peloton arrives in the Alps, next Sunday, and after his third win, the green jersey remains with reach.