Australian national champion Nicole Frayne (Parkhotel Valkenburg) made it through the second stage of the Tour de France Femme on Monday, despite suffering a horrific crash late in the stage to Provins.

The 29-year-old was chasing behind when she was involved in a crash with 30km to go and collided with Marta Cavalli of FDJ-SUEZ Futuroscope.

Frayn swooped down from Cavalli, who hit the ground hard, and landed hard on top of the crashing riders. Both racers got up and started driving, but FDJ was concerned about Cavalli's condition and retired from the race. According to the team, she sustained a head injury and is still under medical supervision.

Immediately after the stage, Frayn said she put speed on the peloton because she thought there was a gap. She said, "I thought I could keep going. And there was a rider right in front of me, you saw the replay," he said on Eurosport.

Frayn later apologized for the incident on social media.

"No, today didn't go as I expected. It was hectic and I was restless all day. After working hard to get back to the peloton in a convoy with my teammates, the speed at which I rejoined the pack was on par with their pace. Unfortunately, when I swerved, I didn't notice another rider in another crash.

"My teammate went off the road to the left, but I didn't see [the crash] and didn't have the opportunity to do the same. So I ended up falling on top of the riders on the ground

"Of course, this was not my intention and I feel bad for everyone involved. I have some pain and I want to keep an eye on my condition. I was lucky to get back on the bike."

The Italian cycling website bici.PRO also reported that Frein spoke with Cavalli, the sport director of FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope, after the stage.

"I won't say what we told each other. I want to keep it low key, but of course I apologized to them and to her," Frayn said in a bici.Pro report (opens in new tab).