Why the Tour de France is more like American Needle instead of Copperweld

I am obsessed with the Tour de France.  But rather than ride hundred of miles a day like Max, I just watch it on the NBCSports cable channel (formerly Versus).  The telecasts are awesome and I adore the talented, knowledgeable, and slightly daft English announcers.  When not dazzled by the athletic feats of the riders or distracted by charming stories about the French chateaus littering the countryside near the course for that day's stage, I think about antitrust. 

Namely why aren't all these people in jail?  At a minimum, why isn't the current version of  the Tour (an any race like it) a violation of every known competition law system?  I mean not just the gentlemen's agreement between different teams, but also the anticompetitive conspiracies enacted daily by members of the same "team".

The live and let live arrangements between teams that pop up in between the overall intense rivalry should be per se illegal.  If your toughest rival has some equipment malfunction, needs to get something from the van, or has some unfortunate accident, there is no lawful reason not to grind them into the dust other than the expectation that someday they will be similarly nice to you.  If you show agreement rather than parallelism this is the easiest case in the world.

But I am increasingly concerned about the collusion among so called teammates.  Copperweld you cry?  Its actually a more complicated matter of incentives as American Needle has shown us.  To what extent do so-called teammates have competing economic incentives versus being part of an integrated enterprise?  First, there is the prize money which is based on winning the overall competition, winning certain stages, finishing anywhere from second to twentieth depending on the stage and the overall, winning points for performance within a single stage, winning specialized competitions (mountains, sprints, youngest rider, most aggressive), etc.  Second, there are the salaries teams pay for the riders which is usually far in excess of their winnings but somehow related to their performance on the Tour and the other races over the year.  Third, there are endorsements and other non-race earnings.  Let me suggest as a result of all of these factors that riders as independent contractors have enough conflicting interests that the situation is far closer to hospitals where most courts have rejected Copperweld defenses where the doctor's also have separate and competing economic interests for their private practices beyond their role as staff physicians.

 So the next time, you hear the announcers commending a top rider for an incredible act of sportsmanship toward a rival team call the cops.

And if you hear them say something like: "So Christian Frum has sacrificed his position as #3 overall in the tour to help Bradley Wiggins hold on to yellow jersey," call DG Comp.

But I'm still going to watch every morning when I work out or get dressed to go to the office.  Best athletes on the planet!