Colombian cyclist Einer Rubio’s Tour de France came to a brutal end on Friday when he slammed face-first into the rear windscreen of a UAE Team Emirates-XRG support car on the legendary Alpe d’Huez ascent.
The 28-year-old Movistar rider had been part of the day’s breakaway on Stage 19 from Gap when the horrifying collision occurred just kilometres from the summit finish.
Video footage circulating on social media captured Rubio travelling at considerable speed on a flatter stretch near the top of the climb. The UAE team car ahead of him braked without warning after a spectator tumbled into its path, leaving Rubio with zero time to react.
He ploughed headlong into the vehicle’s back window, shattering it on impact and leaving his face drenched in blood as stunned fans looked on from the roadside.
An estimated half a million spectators had packed the 13.8-kilometre climb.
Rubio received immediate medical attention on the mountainside before being moved to the treatment truck stationed at the stage finish, where he spent roughly an hour being patched up.
He emerged with heavy bandaging across his face and struggled even to drink from a water bottle owing to the severity of his wounds.
Movistar confirmed their rider had required approximately 20 stitches to his facial injuries. “The Colombian is to be transferred to a hospital in Grenoble, where new tests will be carried out to determine the extent of the injuries,” the team stated.
Getting Rubio off the mountain proved a challenge in itself, with debate between Movistar staff and race medical personnel over the best route through the crowds and traffic. He was ultimately airlifted by helicopter to a Grenoble hospital.
Colombian cyclist Einer Rubio slammed face-first into the rear windscreen of a UAE Team Emirates-XRG support car
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X/@CERFIAFR
Scans there thankfully revealed no fractures, and he was discharged on Friday evening. His withdrawal from the race was confirmed, ending his Tour just two stages from Paris.
UAE team manager Joxean Fernandez, who was behind the wheel of the car Rubio struck, took to Instagram on Saturday to publicly address the incident.
“A spectator suddenly ran out and fell right beneath our vehicle. My only reaction was to brake immediately to avoid running him over,” Fernández, widely known as Matxin, wrote. “It all happened in a split second, and my only thought was preventing a far worse tragedy.”
He explained that amid the chaos and noise of the crowded mountainside, he only discovered the full consequences of the collision upon reaching the finish line. He said he immediately got in touch with Movistar’s directors, riders and staff.
🇨🇴🇫🇷🚲 EN IMAGES | Le cycliste Einer Rubio a percuté une voiture du Tour de France qui avait pilé pour éviter un fan tombé sur la route. Le colombien a ensuite subi 20 points de suture. pic.twitter.com/tqRuCbNbQI
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) July 25, 2026
“I deeply regret the consequences of this accident,” he continued. “If the decisions I made in that moment ended up affecting a rider in the peloton, I can only say that it pains me deeply.”
Fernandez also stressed that roadside spectator behaviour plays a crucial role in keeping everyone safe.
“Matxin, anyone would have reacted the same way — or perhaps (if they had) a second later, we would be mourning the spectator’s death,” former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador wrote in response.
The retired Spanish champion went further, directing his criticism at race organisers for failing to adequately protect the route.
“In light of the thousands and thousands of fans who (walk) the road on foot for the Alpe d’Huez, the organisation should fence the climb to ensure the safety of both people and cyclists,” Contador urged.
Whilst barriers had been erected along the final kilometres of the 13.8-kilometre ascent, large portions of the lower slopes remained unfenced, leaving riders and team vehicles to navigate through dense, uncontrolled crowds.
Contador’s intervention added weight to growing calls for a fundamental rethink of how spectator access is managed on the Tour’s most iconic mountain stages.
Rubio’s ordeal was far from an isolated incident during this year’s race. Just a day earlier, Richard Carapaz had narrowly dodged a collision with a fan who stepped into the road to pose for a photograph, swerving clear at the last moment.
Decathlon CMA CGM directeur sportif Luke Rowe witnessed the aftermath of Rubio’s crash firsthand. “It was ugly out there,” he told TNT Sports. “I saw a Movistar rider at the side of the road, tangled up in a crash, covered in blood. So it was, honestly, it was really on the limit.”
The stage itself was dominated by Tadej Pogacar, whose UAE team car had been involved in the collision. The Slovenian obliterated the record for the fastest-ever ascent of Alpe d’Huez, completing the climb in 35 minutes and 26 seconds — smashing Marco Pantani’s 1995 benchmark by a minute and 14 seconds.