Sagan's disqualification from Le Tour taken to Court of Arbitration for Sport

Sagan was sent home by the race jury after being accused of causing a crash with Cavendish. Credit: PA

Bora-Hansgrohe have taken their appeal against Peter Sagan's disqualification from the Tour de France to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and called for the world champion to be reinstated two days after he left the race.

Sagan was sent home by the race jury on Tuesday evening after being accused of causing a crash late on during stage four in which Mark Cavendish suffered a broken shoulder blade, ending his Tour.

Sagan had initially been docked 30 seconds before the race jury reviewed the footage and upgraded his punishment, ending his bid to win the Tour's points classification for a record-equalling sixth straight year.

As he left the team hotel in Vittel on Wednesday morning Sagan said he disagreed with the verdict but had no choice but to accept it. His team have, however, taken a different path.

The German-registered squad said the UCI commissaires had failed to follow their own rules as they did not speak to Sagan prior to issuing the punishment.

A statement on Thursday said: "The team and Peter Sagan would like to reiterate their position that Peter Sagan did not cause, let alone deliberately, the fall of Mark Cavendish on the last 200m of the fourth stage on July 4, 2017. Peter Sagan stayed on his line and could not see Mark Cavendish on the right side.

"Although the UCI Cycling Regulations provide unambiguously that it is mandatory to hear a rider before any disciplinary decision is taken (Rule 12.2.006: 'The Commissaires Panel may judge the matter only if the offending party has had a chance to defend his point of view [...]'), Peter Sagan has not been given an opportunity to explain to the 'Commissaires Panel' his point of view.

"If the motion to suspend, on which the CAS will have to decide now, is granted, Peter Sagan will immediately re-engage in the Tour and, together with the team BORA-hansgrohe, compete for a successful Tour de France 2017."

Although Sagan travelled home to Monaco on Wednesday, the team have continued to line up his bike outside their team bus each morning alongside those of his remaining team-mates.

However, even if CAS ruled in his favour it seems implausible that he could be allowed to rejoin the race having missed two stages already.

Cavendish had said after the incident that he has a good relationship with Sagan, but on Wednesday morning he praised the "courage" of the race jury in deciding to disqualify the reigning world champion.

On Thursday, Sagan used Twitter to post pictures of him both winning and losing in sprints against Cavendish, and wrote: "Mark, get well soon! I prefer a finish like the one in the first photo 😉 but whatever the outcome, I look forward to racing against you!"

Cavendish then responded: "Class... Proud to know you, Peter. See you soon mate."