Peter Sagan's 2017 Tour De France Disqualification Appeal Rejected by CAS

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has turned down Peter Sagan's appeal against his disqualification from the Tour de France.

Sky Sports News HQ broke the news on Thursday:

Sagan was disqualified for his part in Mark Cavendish's crash in Stage 4 of the race.

BBC Sport's Richard Conway shared CAS' statement:

The BORA-hansgrohe rider was initially penalised with an 80-point deduction after he appeared to force Cavendish wide using his elbow, prompting the Englishman to crash as he ran out of space against the barriers.

The Tour's official Twitter feed captured the moment:

Sagan messaged Cavendish on Thursday prior to the announcement, wishing him well after he had to pull out of the Tour through injury:

While the world champion's use of his elbows to create space was indeed excessive, his disqualification seemed particularly harsh.

As noted by Bleacher Report's Gianni Verschueren, using elbows is commonplace, and Cavendish himself is no stranger to them:

With his appeal turned down, Sagan's absence from the remainder of the Tour is confirmed.

The 27-year-old was a top contender for the green jersey and was targeting a sixth consecutive points classification win, which would have equaled Erik Zabel's record.

The field will be wide open as a result, but the absence of one of the sport's biggest names will be keenly felt.