Hardly the point of a protest. As soon as there is a gap then technically there is a time difference and it all gets split up. In the tour there is a tradition of respect for the wearer of the yellow jersey and he basically called it. I for one like the dignity of that tradition. Besides, the only thing anyone would have done is to close the gap on Chavanel, who isn't a big GC contender. Utlimately it benefits the real contenders who have a couple of days to play tactics on each other while the sprinters do their thing before one of them ends up taking the lead.
Why stop the sprinters from going for points?