France's Arnaud Demare won the fourth stage of the Tour de France and took the green sprinters jersey on a day that saw the winner of the last five green jerseys, Peter Sagan, kicked out of the race.
Sagan made heavy contact with British sprinter Mark Cavendish in the sprint to the line and appeared to elbow him right before Cavendish crashed into the barriers and then to the pavement within a few hundred metres of the finish line.
Cavendish wasn't happy with the contact he received from Sagan, who he felt hit him with an extended elbow.
"If he came across that is one thing but I am not a fan of him putting his elbow out like that," Cavendish vented after the stage had finished.
Race organisers appeared to agree and disqualified Sagan from the 2017 Tour hours after the finish of the stage.
"Peter Sagan is disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France after today's tumultuous sprint in Vittel," race jury president Philippe Marien told reporters.
Yellow jersey holder Geraint Thomas crashed earlier in the finale but since the incident occurred within the final three kilometres, he will be credited with the same time as the winner.
Sagan had finished the bunch sprint in second but when he was disqualified it moved Alexander Kristoff into second and Andra Greipel into third.
The best ranked Kiwi from stage four remains Team Lotto NL rider George Bennett who managed to jump up a spot from stage three.
It was also slow going for Jack Bauer who leapfrogged two places into 88. Meanwhile, Dion Smith sits just outside the top 100, in 101st while Patrick Bevin has recovered well since his crash in stage one of the tour, sliding into 107th place after coming in at 188th on Sunday.
Reuters/Newshub.