Peter Sagan has failed in a bid to have his disqualification from the Tour de France overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The Commissaires Panel decided that Bora-Hansgrohe rider Sagan was at fault for the incident that saw Mark Cavendish taken to hospital with a broken shoulder at the end of Tuesday's stage four, which ended in Vittel.

Cavendish was sent careering into the barriers after Sagan - hopeful of winning the points classification for a sixth straight year - veered towards him and caught the Briton with an elbow.

Sagan and Bora-Hansgrohe launched an appeal with CAS earlier on Thursday, asking that the Commissaires Panel's ruling be suspended and the reigning world champion be allowed to re-enter the race.

However, CAS has rejected the request, saying via a statement: "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.

"Accordingly, Peter Sagan remains disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France."

In the aftermath of the incident, Sagan said he accepted the decision but protested his innocence and he has since issued an apology on Twitter that Cavendish accepted.