On an eventful Day four, the Tour De France found itself at the centre of a bit of controversy.

As the sprinters entered the final section of the stage, the drama unfolded. Brit Mark Cavendish was attempting to stay with the World Champion Peter Sagan and tracking Frenchman Arnaud Demare, and was going up the inside when the Slovakian moved over to the right, what happened next will never be known for sure unless you are called Sagan.

What cannot be doubted is that Sagan stuck out his elbow, what is under dispute is if this was a deliberate act to elbow Cavendish and stop him overtaking, or if the world champion was losing his balance and tried to stay upright.

Either way the elbow caught the Brit and travelling at 60km/h there was no where for Cavendish to go, he went into the barriers, hard.

The Brit stayed down on the road and treatment was administered. At this point there is no confirmation as to the seriousness of the injury, but even Cavendish has stated that he is unsure if he will start the race on Wednesday. The Brit remounted his bike after the treatment and crossed the line heavily strapped up but a way behind Demare and Sagan.

Immediately after the race had finished Sagan was penalised, he was deducted 80 points and 30 seconds. However, the incident was reviewed by the race jury and the decision was taken to disqualify the Slovak.

Sagan sent home from Tour

Philippe Marien said after the review "We've decided to disqualify Peter Sagan as he endangered some of his colleagues seriously in the final metres of the sprint in Vittel. We will apply article 12.104 of the rules of the UCI... in which case commissaires (the race jury) can decide to enforce a judgement to disqualify a rider."

Reaction has been mixed from riders and commentators alike, some suggesting the disqualification is harsh, with others agreeing it needed to be done for the safety of the race.

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