In reply to gethin_allen:
> I thought it was only overlooked if the crashee is out the back from everyone and it gets them back with a group.
It's a huge grey area. Drafting in the team cars is generally overlooked - often rival teams will help out, good sportsmanship or a favour that will be returned. The sticky bottle is a bit more blatant, but generally OK as long as you don't take the piss like Nibali did, and speed away from others in the same predicament.
Also don't forget MSR is different to a stage in a grand tour, where you risk elimination through bad luck. The nature of the race is that it frequently comes down to a sprint finish, but in a very select bunch of survivors. The length of the race is a factor, but even more so are the climbs of the Cipressa and Poggio, close to finish. The roulers will try and lose as many of the sprinters as they can, the sprinters will try and stay in the peloton whilst saving energy. Any rider who gets a tow up one of these hills will have a major advantage. On the other hand if you put in a massive effort, you'll greatly reduce your reserves for the finale.