[Mr Tonka]

My main gripe is pretty much what most other people's are. The rules get enforced haphazardly by the UCI in a gestapo like fashion. There are rules that state once the sprint begins, your are supposed to hold a straight line. Really? When is the last time there was no change in line by any one sprinting to the finish? Never is likely a truthful answer. The race winner (the French national champ) was the only one to break his line in the stage 4 finish. And with a little in depth analysis, they could have determined that the elbow was not a violent act. Take away the violent act and the line holding rule, since he held his like more so than others in the sprint and what reason is there to DQ Sagan? Emotions? To make a statement? To appease Dimension Data's director? I just don't get it.

If you back the footage up and look at Demare he cuts across another rider's wheel impeding his progress and causing him to become unbalanced (stops pedaling and left knee out for balance). That's not holding his line. What is interesting about his move is that he had double the space Cav had between the rider in front of him and the barriers yet, he chose to swerve left behind that rider for more open road. ...This brings two points to the front for me.

1. Demare leaving the space in front of him essentially made riding along the barrier Sagan's only real line choice with a chance to win, which is why he drifted closer to the barrier while Cav was moving in from behind him.

2. Demare must have felt the gap in front of him between the rider and the barrier was not a safe bet and swerved left to opt for a clearer line. This casts even more of a negative shadow on Cav's decision to attempt to pass in a much smaller gap between Sagan and the barrier. ....BUT, taking the result of the first point into account; riders don't always get to choose their ideal line when sprinting for the finish.

I can't fault Cav for going for it. I can't fault Sagan for going for it. This in my mind, makes it a racing incident and should be devoid of any repercussions.