Schär was already nursing injuries from a pile-up near the finish of Stage 5 on Wednesday. In Friday's crash, he went down with about a dozen other riders on a narrow bridge early in the 205.5km race. "The impact was so hard that my shoulder popped out," Schär said. "I was so stiff, I couldn't move properly. I kept getting dropped and having to chase back."

Testa said Schär's injury – officially a shoulder subluxation – will be monitored closely overnight. "Tomorrow is going to be the key – how he recovers overnight and how much the joint is going to swell up," Testa said. "We'll test him tomorrow morning to see if it's safe for him to ride a bike." Schär was optimistic. "For sure, I want to continue," he said, "but if I am only able to ride in the bunch. Without being able to help there is no point staying in the race."

Pyrenees Lie Ahead

Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling) won the stage as seven BMC Racing Team riders finished in the front group, including Philippe Gilbert (17th), Tejay van Garderen (21st) and Cadel Evans (25th), who is 22nd overall. Evans said he expects Saturday and Sunday's stages in the Pyrenees to be less decisive than the five days in the Alps in the race's final week.

"I think we'll see the first selections and for the first time who is really here and trying to win the race in the Pyrenees," Evans said. "Of course, we already had a bit of key time losses by some of the GC (general classification) contenders in the team time trial – like myself. But the majority of time lost is in the Alps." Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) retained the lead for the second straight day over Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling), who was one of the riders involved in the crash with Schär.