Sagan DQ’d for Tour crash
Mark Cavendish is out of the Tour de France after suffering injuries in a serious crash caused by world champion Peter Sagan, who was disqualified. The British rider sustained hand and shoulder injuries in the crash.
About 50 yards from the end of the fourth stage at Vittel, France, Sagan elbowed Cavendish, who was squeezed against the barriers to his right, out of the way. Cavendish slammed into the barriers and two other riders plowed over the British sprint specialist, a winner of 30 Tour stages.
Apart from doping offenses, disqualifications are rare in the Tour. In 2010, Australian Mark Renshaw was thrown out for a head-butt that cleared a path in a sprint for his teammate Cavendish to win the stage in Bourg-Les-Valence.
Sagan, who had won Stage 3, said later he had apologized to Cavendish. “It’s not nice to crash like that,” said Sagan, who had finished the stage in second place behind Arnaud Demare of France.
There was another crash earlier that delayed Tour leader Geraint Thomas, but the Welshman retained the yellow jersey since it happened in the neutral zone near the stage finish. Thomas leads Sky teammate and three-time champion Chris Froome by 12 seconds, with third-place Michael Matthews of Australia also 12 seconds back.
Stage 5 on Wednesday concludes with the first serious climb of the Tour.
Pee Wee Reese won Santa Anita’s closing day Grade III, $100,000 American Stakes by 13⁄4 lengths under Joe Talamo, going a mile in 1:32.26 . ... Jockey Tyler Gaffallione won seven races at Gulfstream Park in Florida, tying the track record set by Jerry Bailey in 1995.
Right winger Andre Burakovsky and the Washington Capitals agreed to a $6-million, two-year contract. The 22-year-old Burakovsky had 12 goals and 23 assists in 64 games for Washington last season, his third in the NHL . ... The San Jose Sharks signed free-agent forward Brandon Bollig to a oneyear contract. Bollig was part of the Chicago Blackhawks’ championship team in 2013 and has also played for Calgary . ... The Colorado Avalanche signed former No. 1 overall pick Nail Yakupov toa one-year deal.
England’s Ian Poulter qualified for the British Open by shooting rounds of 70-68 at Woburn Golf Club, his home club.