World champion Peter Sagan has been kicked out of the Tour de France after sending fellow sprint star Mark Cavendish crashing to the ground in a hectic finale to the fourth stage.
Cavendish broke his shoulder blade in the crash and was later forced withdraw from the Tour on a day of high drama.
Favoured to win the green jersey for a record sixth time, Sagan appeared to knock Cavendish off balance with an extended elbow as the Briton tried to force his way between him and the safety barrier near the finish line in Vettel, France.
The Slovak's team Bora-Hansgrohe has appealed against the race jury's decision to disqualify him from the race, claiming he did not see Cavendish coming.
France's Arnaud Demare won the stage and also inherited favouritism for the green jersey as the new leader in that category with 167 points, while Australian sprinter Michael Matthews is third on 66 points after finishing the stage in seventh.
Sagan went to Cavendish's team bus to apologise immediately after the race.
"In the sprint I didn't know that Mark Cavendish was behind me. He was coming from the right side, and I was trying to go on (Alexander) Kristoff's wheel," he said in a team statement.
"Mark was coming really fast from the back and I just didn't have time to react and to go left. He came into me and he went into the fence."
Wearing his arm in a sling, Cavendish was forgiving to a point.
"I get on with Peter well ... if he came across it's one thing, but the elbow ... I'm not a fan of him putting his elbow in me like that," said Cavendish.
"I'm obviously massively disappointed to get this news about the fracture.
"I feel I was in a good position to win and to lose that and even having to leave the Tour, a race I've built my whole career around, is really sad."
Yellow jersey holder Geraint Thomas hit the deck in a separate pile-up near the end, but as the incident occurred within the final three kilometres he did not lose time.
Three-time champion Chris Froome continues to lead the general classification, 12 seconds behind Thomas with Australia's big hope Richie Porte still 47 seconds adrift.
Porte was around Thomas when his crash happened and was thankful not to lose any time before suggesting he was ready to start attacking attack on stage five which features the first mountain sections.
"It wasn't so hard but it was pretty stressful there in the final. There were a couple of big crashes. Thank god for the three kilometre rule," Porte said.
"I'm super motivated for tomorrow. All of the guys in the team are motivated for tomorrow as well. I think we just have to see how the race goes but I expect it to be absolutely full gas. It's the first big test of the Tour de France in 2017."
Stage five will begin in Vittel and end with a Category One climb to La Planche Des Belles Filles that will last almost six of the stage's 160.5 kilometres.
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