The sunny quietude that held sway for most of Stage 4 of the 2017 Tour de France gave way to two crashes at the end of the race, the latter of which ended Mark Cavendish’s race and resulted in the expulsion of Peter Sagan.

The elimination of Sagan left 194 riders in the race, meaning the race slipped back into Les Cuspides.

For about 180 kilometers of the stage, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck of the Wanty-Groupe Gobert team rode a brave solo break, gaining as much as 13 minutes over the peloton before it began to reel him back to the boat. With about 20 kilometers left, the catch of Keirsbulck was made, and the sprinters’ teams charged to the fore.

A first crash occurred with less than a kilometer to go as teams jockeyed for position. It took out numerous riders including Tour leader Geraint Thomas, but the race rules allowed all within the last 3 kilometers of the race to receive the same time, so he remains in the yellow jersey. Then a second crash occurred along the barriers as the top sprinters vied for the stage win. Sagan tried to follow eventual stage winner Arnaud Démare of the FDJ team, but Sagan’s move took him into the path of Cavendish, who was also following Démare and tried to come through the narrow space between Sagan and the barriers but hit the barriers and then the pavement.

In replays of the crash, Sagan’s elbow came up at nearly the same time that Cavendish careened into the barrier, but whether Sagan’s elbow came into contact with Cavendish is difficult to see.

Race officials reviewed the finish and initially planned to relegate Sagan to 115th place, or the place behind the last finisher in the main group, and add a 30-second penalty to his time. On further review, the officials expelled Sagan altogether. Sagan’s team has appealed his expulsion.

At the cusps of the center of the race are Robert Kiserlovski of the Katusha-Alpecin team and Andrea Pasqualon of Wanty-Groupe Gobert in 97th and 98th positions, respectively. Olivier Le Gac of the FDJ team remains the Lanterne Rouge.