The Sagan/Cavendish Crash Aftermath: Irresponsible Journalism

Yesterday there was a big crash at the end of Stage Four of the Tour de France, involving Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish.
Sagan was blamed, and then ejected from the rest of the three-week race.

My gripe is that half of the news articles I've seen today are just wildly inflammatory, using phrases that make for excellent
click bait, but are devoid of fact.

First, let's look at what happened. Here's a view from the front. Peter Sagan has a green helmet and a white jersey with rainbow stripes on the
sleeves. Mark Cavendish has the green bike and is the first to crash:

The video includes views from the front and from above.

What I saw when I watched it live is the same thing I see when I download it and carefully inspect it frame by frame: there was
contact between the two (likely Sagan's hips and Cavendish's handlebars), upon which Cavendish started to go down. Sagan's elbow
then made a seemingly-instinctual reaction, jutting out as if to dislodge a fly that had landed on it. Anyone actually looking at
the video carefully can't possibly refute that the crash was already underway and a foregone conclusion before there was
any movement from Sagan's elbow.

Furthermore, it seems clear to me that the arm/elbow didn't even touch Cavendish.

Despite the elbow having nothing to do with it, I do think it was Sagan's fault. I believe him when he says that he didn't know
Mark was there, but it's his responsibility to know the space is clear before taking it. As much as I like Peter Sagan (he's my
favorite pro cyclist by far), I think he was negligent in this case.

Anyway, major news outlets are reporting that “Sagan elbowed Cavendish”, which besides being factually incorrect,
makes it sound intentional and malicious. For example, CBS Sports:

Cavendish, booted from Tour De France


"Sagan's elbow set off a nasty crash that left Cavendish bloody and Sagan disqualified"

How can one trust anything in the article when the headline and the lead are factually incorrect? There are a lot of
articles like this.

There's misinformation on both sides. The 2nd video embedded just above purports to illustrate that Sagan wasn't at fault,
totally ignoring the very-relevant seconds before the video starts. Cavendish was at least partially parallel with Sagan for a
couple of seconds prior to contact, so he had a right to be there. He was holing a steady line as he accelerated and was in the
process of passing Sagan when Sagan's drift with the bulk of the group brought him into the space that Cavendish already
occupied.

It seems factual that nobody elbowed anyone, and reasonably clear that Sagan was negligent. What's not clear to me is what
the punishment should be.

I would assume that punishment for this kind of infraction would be spelled out in the rules, applied within the context
of what has traditionally been allowed and what has traditionally been considered “over the line”. Personally, I have little
experience with this stuff so I'm not in a position to say what the punishment should be, but as much as I like Peter Sagan,
I can't find myself too upset at his being ejected for a crash that ended the season of one of the sport's top talents.