Peter Sagan’s Bora-Hanssgrohe team have appealed his disqualification from the Tour de France to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an unprecedented move that they believe could even see the world champion return to the race should it prove successful.
The Slovak rider was thrown off the race on Tuesday evening after the race jury ruled that he had endangered other riders in the sprint at the end of Stage 4 in Vittel, with Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish forced to abandon with a fractured shoulder blade after Sagan moved across his line and sent him into the barriers.
Prior to the start of today’s Stage 6, team press officer confirmed to Shane Stokes of Cycling Tips that it had appealed Sagan’s disqualification to CAS.
He said: “We appealed yesterday morning at the CAS because in the UCI rules, as far as we understood, there is no chance of an official appeal as the penalty was less than 200 Swiss francs.
“Of course there is the possibility to go to CAS, and we hoped that CAS would decide on that case before the start [of yesterday’s Stage 5].”
He continued: “Peter was ready to race. He was not far away. So we just hid him a little to give him some quiet time, but he was there. But CAS unfortunately didn’t decide before the start, so we couldn’t put him on the line. We will still wait for the decision of the CAS.”
Whether Sagan could return to the race should CAS rule in his favour is questionable – there is simply no precedent for it, and the fact that he has now missed two stages means that under UCI regulations, he would be considered to have ended his participation in the race.
Sherzer acknowledged he had “no idea” how Sagan might be reinserted in the race, but added: “Peter is still ready. He is not on holiday anywhere or something.
“He is at home, which is not too far away. So we just wait for that the CAS decides, and then we take the next steps.”
Bora-Hangrohe, meanwhile, are making another protest of sorts by lining up Sagan’s bike alongside those of his team mates ahead of the start of each stage, even if he isn’t there to ride it.
Meanwhile, Sagan and Cavendish appear to have buried the hatchet after Tuesday’s controversy through an exchange of tweets.
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! pic.twitter.com/JFSW4HqYnF
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) July 6, 2017
Class… Proud to know you, Peter. See you soon mate. https://t.co/X3mrLysrLT
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) July 6, 2017
12 thoughts on “Bora-Hansgrohe appeal Peter Sagan’s Tour de France disqualification to Court of Arbitration for Sport”
A 2 stage deficit makes the
A 2 stage deficit makes the green jersey race interesting. Give him last place on GC and get him back out there, it’s a spectator sport and he’s the best thing to happen to it in years.
CAS have a number of remedies
CAS have a number of remedies. But it’s likely that, if there were a breach of rule 12.2.006 they’d quash the decision and remit the case back to the commissaires for a fresh one. And, providing that they hear Sagan, they are free to make the same decision.
Bringing Sagan back now would
Bringing Sagan back now would make a mockery of the sport… right or wrong, the decision has been made, and we should just move on.
What this case identifies is how restricted sanctioning options are in these events.
Whilst I firmly blame Sagan for the incident, I believe explulsion was excessive… however the original sanction seemed wholely inappropriate.
Personally, if I was the tour organisers I’d have waited to see if Mark was starting on Wednesday before booting Sagan. Losing both of them is a terribly loss for the race.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
The problem for BoraH is that they are millions of euros down now.
Good job UCI or TdF or
Good job UCI or TdF or whatever, Sagan is the only STAR cycling has seen since decades !!! What do you want ? boring Froomes ?
listen at yourselves, let’s
listen at yourselves, let’s just bring a rider who was reckless at best, back in because he’s a very good bike racer and exciting. Well going by the incidents he’s caused recently and plenty of ag elsewhere your thinking is ludicrous, FIA stupidity thinking!
If you don’t take a stance against unsportsman/reckless participation then you set a very worrying precedence that is difficult to come back from. We see this in all sports and all walks of life.
Let’s see, one that affects people on bikes, the lessening of the death by charges so they could include death by careless which has a massively lower tariff and has not had any impact whatsoever on getting more convictions from bias jury’s.
Make riders take more responsibility for their actions, does that stop them from racing full out, no it doesn’t, and statements in other threads about not being able to be competitive whilst not pushing are bollocks. You can push but you take it upon yourself and those that are around you to not take the piss and push beyond which is were it then all goes wrong. Sagan went way beyond that limit not just once in the stage but twice. That Griepel and others were complaining about him shows you the level of what the supposed best bike handler in the pro ranks is thought about by other riders when he’s giving it the big I am.
Maybe this might make him and others think before being reckless in the way they go about their jobs.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
Greipel apologized to Sagan after watching the replays. Maybe you should too?
Weiman wrote:
Griepel had issues over previous days, maybe you should bother yourself to ask which instances are being referred to and apologise for coming to conclusions?
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
He’s the best professional bike handler on the planet, he’s not known for being reckless. Cav, on the other hand.. it’s a different story. Even most of the pros that have weighed in on this agree that Sagan wasn’t at fault. We want Sagan back because he didn’t cause that crash. What happened to him was unfair, and they didn’t even offer him the chance to state his case which is required by the rules.
It’s also a bit of a coincedence that a French rider “won” the green jersey after Sagan was booted out. No proof it’s corruption, but it sure looks like it.
velo-nh wrote:
Can I nterest you in a tin foil casquette
rct wrote:
You may wish to supply multiples of becuase this theory has got legs!
rct wrote:
Yea, because professional bike racing never has scandals.