One of the cool things about cycling was on display Sunday at Paris-Nice.

Sportsmanship.

Cycling can be a vicious sports, with the strong men and their teams breaking opponents by attacking on climbs or by ganging up on them ‘en masse like Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal and Discovery teams did. Yet the culture of cycling counters that viciousness with leaders or challengers literally bringing races to a halt if a challenger crashes.

So it was Sunday in Stage 7 of Paris-Nice.

After second-place Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R and fourth-place Robert Gesink of Rabobank crashed Sunday on the descent of Col de la Porte a little less than halfway into the 119 km stage, race leader Davide Rebellin of Gerolsteiner ordered the peloton to slow up and wait for his challengers to get back on two wheels.

To understand how remarkable this is, consider the tenuous nature of Rebellin’s lead heading into the final stage. He led Nocentini by just 3 second with a more comfortable 51-second lead over Gesink, yet he waited for them.

Armstrong did this en route to the 2001 Tour de France title, waiting for top challenger Jan Ullrich after Ullrich overshot a corner and crashed on a descent. Two years later, Ullrich and American Tyler Hamilton slowed the leaders twice slowed after mishaps for Armstrong, once after Armstrong had to take evasive action through a field after Joseba Beloki crashed hard (and suffered multiple broken bones) and then after Armstrong was pulled down by a fan’s musette.

In cycling, it isn’t acceptable to take advantage of an opponent’s misfortune. There’s no honor in winning that way.

So, Rebellin lets two of his challengers stay in contact with him, even though Rebellin has been desperate to win Paris-Nice after three close calls –podium finishes in 2003, ‘04 and ‘07.  He wanted to win, but he wanted to win the right way.

Rebellin, Nocentini, Gesink and thrd-place finisher Yaroslav Popvich finished in a group 5 seconds behind stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez of Caisse d’Epargne, second place Maxime Monfort of Cofidis and Carlos Barredos of Quick Step.

Rebellin’s 3-second victpry was the tightest in the history of the race, which this year was conducted by promoted ASO under the auspices of the French Cycling Federation apparently in violation of UCI rules.

After the race, the letour.fr website quoted Rebellin as saying: “I’m very happy because for many years I had to be content with second or third places and I never won. It was a hard race today and I must thank my teammates. There were a lot of attacks today but we managed to control Nocentini well. In the end, the stage result had no longer any importance. Witht he Tour du Haut Var and Paris-Nice, I’ve already won two beautiful races this season and I now hope to grab a nice classic like the ones I’ve won in the past.”

On the downside, the cyclists protested at the start of the final stage, delaying their departure for 10 minutes because of an out-of-competition doping test for an injured Belgian rider grieving after the death of his infant son. A doping-control doctor showed up to test Kevin Van Impe of Quick Step as he prepared for the baby’s funeral, and the doctor refused to return at a later date, according to Reuters news service.

“Given that riders, who are above all human beings, understand and accept the tests that they have to undergo, they expect, in turn, that their dignity is respected,” the Professional Cyclists Association (CPA) said in a statement.

Reuters wrote: “The Quick Step rider said he had been threatened with sanctions should he refuse to take the test.”

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