Sagan kicked out of Tour after Cavendish crash
Britain’s sprint king breaks his shoulder in horror fall blamed on Slovak world champion
Stage four of the Tour de France ended in bloodshed and acrimony after a sickening collision between Mark Cavendish and world champion Peter Sagan.
X-rays revealed Cavendish had broken his right shoulder and has been forced to withdraw from the race.
"I feel I was in a good position to win and to lose that and even having to leave the Tour, a race I've built my whole career around, is really sad," he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
His sadness won't be eased by the expulsion of Sagan for causing the crash but nonetheless Cavendish will feel that justice has been served on the Slovak rider.
"A crash is a crash,” said Cavendish immediately after the collision. “I have a good relationship with Peter, I'd just like to speak to him about it.
"I get on with Peter well but I'm not a fan of him putting his elbow in me like that."
It was Sagan's right elbow that did the damage, appearing to send Cavendish crashing into the safety barrier 200 metres from the line.
According to The Guardian, "he hit the road so hard he folded the spider and the chainring of his chainset so that they were pointing backwards".
Sagan, who won Monday's third stage, was initially handed a 30-second penalty and relegated from second place in the stage to 115th (last place in the lead group) but on review the race jury decided that the gravity of his misdemeanour warranted expulsion from the Tour.
"We've decided to disqualify Peter Sagan from the Tour de France 2017 after the tumultuous sprint, here in Vittel," they said.
"He endangered multiple riders, Mark Cavendish and others who were implicated in the crash, in the final metres of the sprint. We applied article 12.104, irregular sprints, in which case commissaires are allowed to enforce a judgement to disqualify a rider and amend a fine."
"It’s not nice to crash like that," Sagan said immediately afterwards. "It’s the sprint. I just didn’t know that Mark is behind me. He’s coming from the right side. Mark was coming pretty fast from the back and after I just didn’t have time to react, to go left, and he just came [into] me and after into the fence."
Amid the chaos there was also cause to celebrate, at least for French cycling fans. Arnaud Demare, from the FDJ team, won the stage, becoming the first Frenchman to win a bunch sprint stage for 11 years. “It’s extraordinary, it’s marvellous!” declared Demare, who finished second in the sprint finish in Sunday's second stage.
Overall leader Geraint Thomas also fell in the closing stages of the 207.5km stage from Mondorf-les-Bains to Vittel as the road narrowed downhill and turned sharply, but he was able to get back on his bike and cross the finish line. As the fall occurred within the final three kilometres he will be given the same time as the winner.
"I went to the ground, but there was no serious damage,” said Thomas, who retains the yellow jersey, with Chris Froome, his Team Sky team-mate, still in second, 12 seconds behind the Welshman.
Defending champion Froome will be more at home in today's fifth stage, which takes the peloton into the Vosges mountains.
The Tour has come this way before, in 2012 and 2014, and on both occasions the race leader at the summit - Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Vincenzo Nibali in 2014 - has gone on to win the Tour.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 2, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Tour de France: a return to the glory days?
A stellar line-up of contenders looks set to provide a vintage race
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Mason Greenwood: footballer arrested on suspicion of rape and assault
Speed Read Man Utd confirm the striker will not train or play until further notice
By The Week Staff Published
-
Handball: swapping bikini bottoms for tight pants
Speed Read Women competitors will be required to ‘wear short tight pants with a close fit’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second coming
Speed Read Last week, Manchester United re-signed the forward on a two-year deal thought to be worth more than £400,000 a week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Mark Cavendish: cycling’s greatest sprinter of all time
Why Everyone’s Talking About Crashes, illness and injury couldn’t stop the ‘Manx Missile’ as he equalled Eddy Merckx’s all-time record at the Tour de France
By The Week Staff Published
-
Bank holidays and boycotts: are MPs trying to jinx England?
Speed Read Declaring a bank holiday would be ‘tempting fate’, says Boris Johnson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Weightlifting: Olympic Games set for transgender first
Speed Read New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will make history at Tokyo 2020
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sport shorts: Champions League expansion plan to be agreed
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Joachim Low and the Lions women’s team
By Mike Starling Published