Heather and I contributed a fair amount to the cheating anecdotes. We had a numbered bike on the back of a car, on the route. I used last time's number as a way of accessing the bike parks, as flashing my custom-made press pass would have slowed things down.
We also drove on the route, and parked on the verge. That's perfectly legitimate with a red 'Officiel' sticker, it's the blue ones that can't access the route. It was noticeable that some riders got support from unmarked vehicles, they were probably Normans and Bretons meeting their mates along the way.
We're quite happy to act as neutral support. It's like any activity, experience tells, and there are people who know that we'll have a basic medical kit and sunscreen. There are obviously boundaries we won't cross. It's one reason why we've never set out to follow individual riders, so as to avoid the temptation to help the story along.
We end up performing all manner of roles. Some will have spotted me directing riders next to the dodgy turn at the Bar Patton in St Meen le Grand on the return. That's also where we picked up our souvenir direction sign, an outbound Brest one, which we'd used as a prop for a shot of riders passing the Disney-style Hotel de Ville.