Peter Sagan's Tour de France in doubt after heavy crash on descent on stage 17

Peter Sagan has said it would have been very easy for him to leave the Tour de France after he crashed on a descent on stage 17 but he chose to continue to the finish before making a decision on whether to continue in the Tour tomorrow morning.

Sagan sported bandages down his right side after he left the medical truck at the finish on the Col du Portet after finishing the stage in 134th place, nearly half an hour behind stage winner Nairo Quintana.

The holder of the Tour’s green jersey said he crashed on a corner on the second of two descents of the day. “I was braking but it was not enough. I flew in to the forest and I hit a big rock with my arse.

“For sure I'm injured but it could be worse. I think I have some scratches and I hit my muscle on my arse. I hope it's going to be better in one or two days.”

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When asked if he considered climbing into a team car and out of the race he said: “It would be very easy to go home just two or three days before Paris.”

Sagan was unsure if he would be able to contest the sprint that is expected to finish tomorrow’s stage into Pau: “We will see. Now I'm up for the race, we'll see tomorrow morning.”

Team doctor Jan-Niklas Droste added that Sagan had only suffered bruising and scratches but that a final decision on whether he starts tomorrow’s stage would be taken tomorrow.

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“It can be stiff [with these injuries] or it could be too painful. If it’s too difficult to do a good race we’ll take a different decision but we’ll have to see when we’re at the hotel.”

Sagan said he just had to keep his own pace on the final climb to make it to the finish.

If he is forced to abandon the race it would had the green jersey to Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Emirates), one of the few sprinters left in the race, who is currently 282 points behind Sagan’s total of 452.