Today, Patrick Lefevere announced that:

Our sponsors don't see why they should stay in the ProTour as we could see our invitations to some leading races turned down

Add this to Cofidis' confession that:

Today, having a ProTour licence means making big investments which are not always financially viable because it takes the Cofidis team to more and more countries in which it has no operations

(read that as "No, we really don't care about the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya).

So is this it?  is there any point of a pro tour if in addition to the big races, the big teams don't participate?  Is Lefevere the canary in the coal mine?  Or has the tunnel already collapsed and we just haven't realized that we're trapped inside?   Can you hear Prudhomme cackling from where you are?