Court rejects Sagan appeal to be allowed back into Tour

Published Jul. 6, 2017 11:58 a.m. ET

TROYES, France (AP) Sport's highest court has rejected Peter Sagan's appeal to be allowed back into the Tour de France.

The world champion was sent home from the race for elbowing British rival Mark Cavendish during Stage 4 on Tuesday.

His Bora-Hansgrohe team appealed to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In a short statement Thursday, the court said it rejected the appeal and that Sagan ''remains disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France.''

The team insisted that Sagan ''did not cause, let alone deliberately, the fall of Mark Cavendish.''

It said ''Sagan stayed on his line and could not see Cavendish on the right side.''

The crash forced Cavendish to abandon the race with a broken shoulder.