It didn’t quite go as the organisers had hoped. Tuesday’s stage 10 saw the first of two planned race radio bans, but an outcry by most of the riders and team managers has forced the second ban for stage 13 to be dropped.

The experiment by the organisers was meant to inject a little more spontaneity into the racing. It did the opposite, with the riders showing their dislike for the ban by riding slower than expected.

The UCI says: “To put an end to the controversy which is compromising the running of the Tour de France, the International Cycling Union (UCI) Management Committee has decided not to repeat the experiment of a stage without radio communication on Friday 17 July.”

14 of the 20 teams racing in the 2009 Tour de France protested against the race radio ban, including Lance Armstrong, with an effective go-slow for the entirety of stage 10, making for some unspectacular racing. Quite the opposite effect the UCI had hoped for.

Does this mean we’ve seen the last of a race radio ban? I don’t think say, as this quote from UCI gives away: “The UCI pursues the debate on the appropriateness of using radios during racing and will continue to consult all those involved in cycling as far as their use is concerned.”