“I don’t remember how the crash happened" - Molenaar out of Tour de France after heavy crash as organisers referred to concussion protocol
CyclingThursday, 09 July 2026 at 11:20
Alex Molenaar's Tour de France is over after he crashed heavily in the finale of stage 5 on Wednesday. The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider suffered a fractured metacarpal in his right hand and underwent a routine check after a possible head injury by race doctors.
The team later confirmed he would not start stage 6. The worrying crash saw him finish around seven minutes after the bunch sprint won by Olav Kooij as a number of incidents marred the Pau finish.
The end of stage 5 was fast and quite tense, with the sprinter teams fighting in every inch of the road. The technical section of the final sprint began with 5.8 kilometers to go and a mass crash took place there, with several riders going down, including Molenaar.
“I don’t remember how the crash happened,” he said, according to the Spanish newspaper AS, after finishing battered with clear abrasions.
Molenaar confirmed his fractured metacarpal as he took to Instagram later: “Unfortunately, my Tour de France has come to an end. After a heavy crash, I hit my head and hand hard.”
Molenaar on "enormous sadness" as Vingegaard also caught behind crash
He added: “I feel enormous sadness at not being able to continue in this wonderful race and fulfil the dream of reaching Paris. But that is this sport: sometimes it is the most beautiful in the world and other times the hardest.”
Molenaar's crash also raised questions around head injuries in cycling. Although measures are increasing around concussions, his finishing and assessment after crossing the line, sparked debate around riders' instinct to keep racing after a crash and how to safely ensure they can continue.
General classification contender Jonas Vingegaard was also involved in the crash in the lead-up to the finish. It couldn't be confirmed in that moment if he had suffered a crash, but what was clear shortly after on the Visma bus was that the Dane had to change bikes.
It explained his late arrival to the finish, around 25 seconds behind the first peloton, but it did not lead to a gap to the likes of Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel.
Team DS Marc Reef had confirmed the lack of time gaps to Sporza: “There were riders in between everywhere, so there were no gaps of three seconds. There were about ten seconds between Pogacar and Jonas, but with riders in between, which meant that everyone is given the same time.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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