During the live coverage of today's flat stage through the south of France, the helicopter coverage showed quite a few pools. Paul Sherwen mentioned, that even though the hotels where most of the riders stay have pools, the team doctors don't allow them to jump in and cool off. Phil Liggett wondered why, and Paul said he wasn't quite sure why, but soaking in cold water made sore muscles even tighter and stiffer, which is definitely what you don't want when you are riding over a hundred miles everyday. The reason why is osmosis. Soaking in somewhat fresh water will encourage the transport of salts out through the skin, mainly the valuable electrolytes which combat the lactic acid buildup and keep the body from being dehydrated. If you ever want to soak sore muscles in warm or cold water, make sure you mix in Epsom salts so that the balance of salts across the skin membrane remains constant.
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