The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Peter Sagan's team's appeal against the exclusion of the world champion from the Tour de France after he sent Mark Cavendish crashing in a sprint.
"The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) issued a decision rejecting an urgent request for provisional measures filed by the Slovak cyclist Peter Sagan and the Denk Pro Cycling team in the afternoon of 5 July 2017," CAS said in a statement.
"Accordingly, Peter Sagan remains disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France."
Sagan was kicked out of the Tour on Tuesday after elbowing Briton Cavendish off balance at the end of the fourth stage.
Cavendish pulled out of the race after suffering a fractured shoulder blade in the incident.
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The Bora-Hansgrohe team and licence holder Denk insisted Sagan had done nothing wrong, adding that the rider was denied a hearing.
"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," the statement read.
"Peter Sagan stayed on his line and could not see Mark Cavendish on the right side."
The International Cycling Union (UCI) regulations state that "the Commissaires Panel may judge the matter only if the offending party has had a chance to defend his point of view", and Bora-Hansgrohe claim Sagan was not heard.
The UCI could not be immediately reached for comment.
