German reports are completely different, and are similar to what I listened to today on TV here.
According to the report above:
They were planning to catch the break out on Col du Rosier about 10 km before the finish. They had allowed it to stretch out to 7 minutes, but had no problem reeling it in easily in the second half, when the hills started.
The riders, led by Cancellera, decided to call off the pursuit to let the Schlecks come back. It wasn't the team heads, rather the riders. They want to protect the favorites, and there was also concern Andy Schleck may have been seriously hurt.
Nothing against Chavanel, he broke out early and deserved to have his day.
I just think that had the crashes not occurred there would have been a mass sprint. I remember the commentators saying that it looked like the sprint was going to be called off, because they had been keying on Cavendish and saw the tactics change.
Cavendish was back at the official’s car at some point before they came to the finish. He then came back to the front and you could see him communicating to the riders indicating keep it down and cross the line together. I’m not sure where the decision was made or by whom.