Stéphane Delcourt, manager of FDJ-SUEZ Futuroscope, believes that Australian champion Nicole Frain (Parkhotel Valkenburg), who clashed with Marta Cavalli on stage 2 of the Tour de France She believes that she should not have been more active in the Femme Avec Zwift.

"If I were Nicole Frayne, I wouldn't have started the race today," Delcourt told Cycling News at the start of stage 3 in Reims on Tuesday.

"But I am neither her, nor her director, nor her organization."

Parkhotel Valkenburg director Bart Faes told Cycling News that he has no intention of removing Frain from the Tour de France fam because he does not believe she intentionally caused the crash.

"It was not [Nicole Frain's] intention. It was not her intention to hurt other people, no, that's not possible," Faith said.

"If I felt that was her intention, I would definitely take her out (of the race). No, that was not her intention."

Frain was brought back into the peloton by her teammates after another crash early in stage 2, and the two nearly reached the back of the peloton when Amanda Spratt (BikeExchange-Jayco) crashed with 25km to go.

As Cavalli tried to avoid Spratt, Frayn slammed into Cavalli from behind at over 60 km/h. It's really hard to witness a crash like this. It was hard to explain. I thought of Marta and her family and how it could have happened," Delcourt said. Delcourt said.

Medical staff confirmed that Cavalli had sustained head and lower body trauma and she was taken to the hospital for further examination. She was placed under medical supervision but returned to the team on Monday evening.

"Marta is fine. When she came back yesterday it was like having a family member back home. I am very happy that she slept this morning, although not a good night's sleep. We had breakfast and talked to her teammates. [She] is with the team and supports them. She will pass her spirit on to the five riders."

Frayn rallied from her crash to finish the stage in 86th place, 3:22 behind stage winner Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma). Her reaction immediately after the crash indicated that she mistakenly thought there was a gap for her to get through.

However, she later claimed that she did not see the crash and apologized: "Naturally, this was not my intention and I apologize to those involved."

Faith said she was happy to learn that Cavalli had recovered and was back with her team and wished her well. He also said that he and Frain tried to contact the FDJ-Suez Futuroscope team to express their concern for Cavalli and to apologize.

"We were afraid she might be badly hurt," he said.

He further explained what happened with the Parkhotel Valkenburg players in the moments before the crash.

"Nicole came back from the crash at the wheel of her teammate [Anne van Rooyen], they came back and I instructed her teammate to pass on the left side of the peloton and she did so.

"I needed a second or two to react. They were going 63 km/h. If you don't look for a second, 15 meters in front of you, that's what happens. She said she thought there was a gap. She didn't realize what happened and didn't see the crash. That was the big thing.

"I'm glad Cavalli wasn't seriously hurt, but nothing happened to our rider either. Anne was going so fast on the left side of the road that I didn't have time to brake. It was really hard for us as well."

"I'm glad that Cavalli wasn't seriously hurt.

Reaction on social media was swift. Some have compared the incident to the accident caused by Dylan Groenewegan at the 2020 Tour of Poland, in which Fabio Jacobson suffered life-threatening injuries. Others have suggested that Frayn should be excluded from the competition because of his dangerous riding in the peloton.

"Twitter reactions and nonsense from people who were not at the race and could not see what happened. She tried to brake, but of course she couldn't brake (in time)," Faeth said.

"This is really different [from Groenewegen's cash]. That was a group sprint, this is totally different from that, you have to react in one second, you have to look over at the peloton 50 meters ahead. We try to block [social media], but of course she read it, she was crying. We talked for a few minutes and maybe there was some reaction today (in the peloton), but it wasn't big enough for her to want to leave. Cycling in the race, most people know what happened. I never meant to hurt anyone."