End of Tour de France's 4th stage marred by ugly and controversial crash that took out Mark Cavendish

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July 4, 2017 5:31 PM

Mark Cavendish may have been knocked out of the Tour de France in an ugly crash that may have been accidental but has a lot of people screaming foul.

British cyclist Mark Cavendish may have been knocked out of the Tour de France in an ugly crash that was some feel was accidental but has others screaming foul.

The final kilometers at the end of the fourth stage of the Tour de France were expected to be exciting and potentially dangerous, but once the lead riders cleared two sharp turns it was expected to just be a sprint to the finish.

But as the leaders raced for the finish line at more than 30 mph, Cavendish tried to pass his sprint rival

When Cavendish was asked after the race about the crash and whether he thought the elbow was intentional, he would only say he wants to "

However, many also felt that the elbow was inadvertent and wasn't malicious, saying it is an instinctual move to swing out the elbow if you feel you are losing your own balance.

Either way, it now appears the Cavendish, who has won 30 stages in his career at the Tour, is in danger of being out of this year's race, saying after the stage that he is "not optimistic" about continuing. According to The Guardian, Cavendish suffered "

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