After 4 years of taunting and fabricating consipiriciesies, the French government commissioned studies of Lance's behavioral traits. These studies indicated his preponderance toward an aggressive outlet, namely thrashing his fellow tour rivals on whatever climb hurt the most or demoralizing them on races against the clock. As a last resort, this year, the French public resorted to a conscious effort of being nice to the 4 time Tour champion, in an effort to lull the potentially violent beast to sleep.
Irony: How different this Tour would have been today if Lance had crushed his [now] missing nut on the top tube after pulling his foot out of the pedal.