FDJ-SUEZ Futuroscope’s manager Stephen Delcourt believes Nicole Frain (Parkhotel Valkenburg) should have played no further part in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, after the horrific crash that saw the Australian Champion collide into Marta Cavalli during stage 2.
“If I was Nicole Frain, I would not be starting the race today,” Delcourt told Cyclingnews at the start of stage 3 in Reims on Tuesday.
“But I am not her, nor her director, nor the organisation.”
Parkhotel Valkenburg director Bart Faes told Cyclingnews that he will not remove Frain from the Tour de France Femmes because he doesn’t believe that she intentionally caused the crash.
“It was not [Nicole Frain’s] intention to do this, no, for sure, no. It was not her intention to hurt someone else, no, that cannot be her intention,” Faes said.
“If we felt that was her intention, for sure, we would take her out [of the race]. No, it was not her intention.”
Frain was being paced back up to the peloton by a teammate following a separate crash earlier on stage 2, and the pair had nearly reached the back of the peloton when another crash ahead saw Amanda Spratt (BikeExchange-Jayco) go down with 25km to go.
As Cavalli attempted to manoeuvre around Spratt, Frain raced through the field, hitting Cavalli from behind at a speed reported to be upwards of 60km/h.
“With a crash like this, it’s really hard to see it, we don’t work for that. It was hard to describe. I imagined a bad scenario about that and I thought of Marta and her family – how is it possible that this happened?” Delcourt said.
Medical staff confirmed that Cavalli suffered head and lower body trauma and she was taken to hospital for further examination. She remained under medical supervision but returned to her team on Monday evening.
“Marta is good. Yesterday when she came back, it was like having a family member come back into the family house. We are very happy this morning because she slept, not well, but she slept. She had breakfast and spoke with her teammates,” Delcourt said.
“She is with the team, supporting the team. She will transfer all her spirit onto the five riders.”
Frain got up from the crash and finished the stage 86th at 3:22 behind stage winner Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma). Her immediate response to the crash indicated that she mistakenly thought she saw a gap that she could fit through.
However, she later claimed she didn’t see the crash as she issued an apology, saying: “Naturally, this was never my intention and I am sorry…
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