Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe team say they have made an official protest to the UCI about the expulsion of the world champion from the 2017 Tour de France.
Sagan was disqualified from the Tour after stage four for "very serious manoeuvre in the sprint" in the final 250m of the race to Vittel, which resulted in Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) crashing against the barriers and to the floor.
Initially, stage three winner Sagan was given a 30 second time penalty and handed a 80 point deduction in the green jersey standings.
Sagan and Cavendish collide on stage four of the Tour de France (Sunada)
(Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA)
But complaints from Dimension Data saw the race jury reassess the incident and they decided to disqualify the Slovakian.
On Tuesday evening, shortly after Cavendish was confirmed out of the race, Bora released a statement saying they had made an official protest to the UCI.
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"The UCI World Champion Peter Sagan was disqualified today, according to article 12.1.040/ 10.2.2. (irregular sprint) in the result/communiqué. The team disagrees with the decision and protested it officially," the statement rad.
"Peter Sagan rejected to have caused, or in any way intended to cause the crash of Mark Cavendish on the final 200m of the stage. Peter stayed on his line in the sprint and could not see Cavendish on the right side.
"The team applied for a redress of Peter Sagan's result in stage four."
The German squad's protests are likely to come to naught however, with the UCI regulations clearly stating that decisions can not be appealed.
Rule 12.2.007 of the cycling regulations says that "decisions handed down by the commissaires are final and not open to appeal."
Sagan, for his part, says he didn't have time to react in the incident which saw Cavendish try to pass him on the right hand side of the road as the race's leading sprinters fought for position.
“In the sprint I didn’t know that Mark Cavendish was behind me," Sagan said.
"He was coming from the right side, and I was trying to go on Kristoff’s wheel. Mark was coming really fast from the back and I just didn’t have time to react and to go left.
"He came into me and he went into the fence. When I was told after the finish that Mark had crashed, I went straight away to find out how he was doing.
"We are friends and colleagues in the peloton and crashes like that are never nice. I hope Mark recovers soon.”
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Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.
An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).
