Einer Rubio shares recovery update after Alpe d’Huez crash - 'We can learn from these situations'

The Movistar rider posted a photograph showing the visible effects of the accident. Rubio still looks badly bruised, with healing cuts and scabs across his face after requiring 20 stitches.

“A few days have passed since the accident at the Tour de France and, as the saying goes, you have to put on a brave face in difficult times,” the Colombian wrote.

Rubio crashed into the rear of a UAE Team Emirates-XRG vehicle during the final kilometres of the climb. The team car had braked suddenly when a spectator stepped into the road, leaving Rubio, who was riding directly behind it, with almost no time or space to react.

UAE manager Joxean Matxin Fernández later explained that he had stopped the car to avoid hitting the spectator. He said the decision had been made in a fraction of a second and that those inside the vehicle only realised the severity of Rubio’s crash after reaching the finish.

Rubio acknowledged that the outcome might have been different with stronger crowd control and improved safety measures on the mountain.

“Perhaps it would have been different with better barriers on the climb, stricter control over vehicle access and more cautious fans,” he wrote.

The Colombian said the accident could not be changed, but hoped lessons would be learned to prevent a similar incident in the future.

“No one expects to finish a race this way, but that is what happened,” he wrote. “We cannot change the past, but we can learn from these situations.”

The question, however, is whether the incident will lead to further safety measures in the future. Responding to the crash, Tour de France organiser ASO, through race director Thierry Gouvenou, appeared reluctant to announce any additional action and instead pointed to modern vehicle technology as a contributing factor.

“Perhaps every accident can be prevented at the moment it happens,” Gouvenou told Sporza. “But it is clear that modern cars now have sensors everywhere.”

According to Gouvenou, the vehicle’s safety system reacted automatically when a spectator fell in front of the car.

“The car detected that a spectator had fallen in front of it,” he explained. “It braked abruptly and the engine switched off.”

Gouvenou then made the striking suggestion that the crash might not have happened had an older vehicle been used.

“If we had had cars that were 20 years older, the accident would not have happened,” he said.

While questions remain over how similar incidents will be prevented in the future, Rubio’s immediate focus is on his return to full fitness. The 28-year-old closed his message by thanking everyone who had sent him words of support since the crash and offering a reassuring update.

“I am recovering and I will be back soon.”