BRUSSELS: Belgian Tim Wellens, a key UAE team-mate of Tadej Pogacar, has been ruled out of the upcoming spring classics season after a crash last weekend, he announced on Tuesday.

Wellens was one of several riders to fall in a collision during Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne one-day race in Belgium.

“The 2026 Classics are over before they even began,” he said in a post on social media.

“Right clavicle fractured. Surgery went well thanks to the excellent medical team at the hospital, and the recovery process has already started.

“Very disappointed to miss the upcoming races, but I’ll be fully supporting my @uaeteamemirates teammates from home.”

Wellens joined UAE Team Emirates in 2023, playing a supporting role in Pogacar’s Tour of Flanders victories that year and in 2025, as well as the Slovenian’s third and fourth Tour de France triumphs in 2024 and 2025.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2026