The crash occurred on Friday, 31 October, during a neutralized stage that had been interrupted due to extreme weather conditions. Frischknecht is initially unable to reconstruct exactly how the crash occurred. "The race was neutralized, so I don't understand exactly how it could have happened. I lost my memory before and after the crash. I thank all the other riders for their fairness and for stopping and looking after me," Frischknecht wrote on Instagram. In hindsight, he knows that a gust of wind from the side caused the crash.

In hospital, doctors initially diagnosed a broken collarbone and a concussion. However, it later transpired that a bone splinter had injured the lung, causing the left lung to collapse. Frischknecht had to undergo surgery on both his hand and collarbone and the lung had to be re-inflated.

Despite the serious injuries, the healing process is considered stable. According to initial reports, Frischknecht was optimistic that he would soon be able to return to training: "I won't be allowed to ride a mountain bike for six weeks, but I'm sure I'll be able to ride a road bike sooner."

Until the time of the crash, the Swiss rider was in ninth place overall. He had already shown his strong form with a second place on the first stage, but was slowed down in the meantime by a defect and the loss of his race catering before things went better for him again on Thursday's stage.