World champion Peter Sagan’s Tour de France 2017 disqualification has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), following an urgent appeal by his Bora-hansgrohe team.
Sagan was kicked off the race after stage four, after what race commissaires ruled was dangerous sprinting which led to Mark Cavendish’s race-ending crash.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider, who had won stage three the previous day in Longwy, was initially just relegated on the stage for his role in the crash, and hit with a points and time penalty.
But after reviewing the decision, race commissaires deemed Sagan – who cut across the front of Cavendish before flicking out an elbow after the two collided – had ‘endangered seriously several riders’ and opted to disqualify him.
Bora-hansgrohe released a statement on Thursday, saying their were appealing the decision as race commissaires failed to follow UCI policy – namely speaking to Sagan to hear his side of the story – before making their decision.
But CAS confirmed they were upholding the disqualification in a short statement later on Thursday afternoon, as the peloton was heading to Troyes for stage six.
