Winning without a deal is preferable to winning with a held deal, which is preferable to winning with a broken deal which may or may not be preferable to gettin

Winning without a deal is preferable to winning with a held deal, which is preferable to winning with a broken deal which may or may not be preferable to getting caught by the chasers die to lack of a deal (or due to a weakly trusted one). A similar hierarchy can be made for a stronger rider in a stage race who has a time preference (over points) and who therefore grants the stage win: granting without an explicit deal is a better investment in future cooperation prospects than an explicit deal (because it can influence all future co-breakists), an explicit deal is preferable to coming in second due to being weaker, which is still greatly preferable to getting caught by the chasers.