Rubio Tour France exit after crash into UAE team car
The Rubio Tour France campaign ended on Alpe d'Huez after Movistar's Einer Rubio crashed into the back of a UAE Team Emirates-XRG car. The vehicle braked hard when a spectator fell into its path; Rubio suffered facial injuries, needed hospital care in Grenoble, and abandoned the race.
Key Takeaways
- Einer Rubio abandoned stage 19 after hitting a UAE Team Emirates-XRG car on Alpe d'Huez.
- UAE sports manager Joxean Fernández Matxin said he braked to avoid a fallen spectator.
- Rubio needed around 20 stitches for facial injuries and was taken to hospital in Grenoble.
- Tour race director Thierry Gouvenou defended Alpe d'Huez crowd control while blaming abrupt modern-car braking.
- Race leader Tadej Pogačar still won the stage amid chaotic roadside crowds.
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What happened to Rubio on Alpe d'Huez?
According to Cycling Weekly, the Colombian climber was part of a 42-rider breakaway on stage 19 and was still near the front halfway up the famous Alpine climb.
With about 5km remaining, eventual stage winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) passed Rubio. Shortly afterwards, riding alone, Rubio slammed headfirst at speed into the rear of a UAE team car that had slammed on its brakes.
Unlike other parts of the ascent, there were no barriers holding fans back where the crash happened. Rubio, 28, could not finish the climb. The stage medical report listed a facial injury and said he was observed at the mobile X-ray unit.
Why did the UAE team car stop so suddenly?
A UAE spokesperson told Cycling Weekly a spectator fell forward directly into the path of the car, forcing an emergency stop. Matxin later apologised on Instagram, saying the fan "fell right under our vehicle" and that his only thought was avoiding a bigger tragedy.
He said the crew heard an impact behind them but, amid noise and the duty to protect the race leader, only learned at the finish that Rubio had to abandon. Matxin said he then called Movistar to express concern.
News.com.au reported Rubio spent about an hour being treated in the medical truck atop Alpe d'Huez, was bandaged, then taken by ambulance to hospital in Grenoble with multiple facial injuries.
How are organisers responding to the crowd chaos?
Cyclingnews reported Tour race director Thierry Gouvenou argued modern cars with sensors braked so abruptly that the engine cut out. "If we had had cars that were twenty years older, the accident would not have happened," he told Sporza.
Gouvenou still defended ASO's measures: closing the climb to cars the day before, adding barriers, ropes and posts, and deploying more police. He said most fans behaved reasonably, but a minority spoiled the spectacle, and that charging spectators "does not fit the spirit of the Tour."
Pogačar had to wave fans aside en route to victory, while Remco Evenepoel was disrupted by spectators and motorbikes. Rubio's abandon leaves Movistar without one of its most active breakaway riders just days from Paris.