Race news

Another UAE blow as Jay Vine suffers wrist fracture from kangaroo crash

Despite a successful start to the season, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have already suffered multiple setbacks from race incidents, and Vine's injury is another blow.

January 27 2026 - 9:20 AM

Cor Vos

2026 Santos Tour Down Under winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has suffered a fractured wrist following a crash on the final stage of the race that was caused by kangaroos entering the road.

With around 95km to go of stage 5 in and around the Adelaide Hills, two kangaroos suddenly entered the path of the peloton, which resulted in a crash bringing down several riders, including Vine and his Danish teammate Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

While Vine was able to continue, Bjerg had to abandon the race, suffering multiple fractures to his shoulders and hands. “People always ask me what the most dangerous animals are in Australia, and I always say kangaroos,” Vine said afterwards.

Vine would go on to seal the general classification for the second time in his career by 1:03 over Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and 1:12 ahead of Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost), though not without escaping injury, suffering a significant left wrist scaphoid fracture.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have confirmed that the Australian has already undergone successful surgery and will take a break from racing to recover.

"After the race Jay reported pain in his wrist from his crash during the final stage. After medical review, it was found that he sustained a significant left wrist scaphoid fracture, and underwent successful surgery on Tuesday morning, said Dr Adrian Rotunno, of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. “He will be withdrawn from competition for post-op recovery and rehabilitation.”

It’s another setback for the team, who, despite having a successful start to the season, winning a stage and general classification at the Tour Down Under, have already suffered from multiple crashes involving their riders.

On stage 4, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who was the defending champion and sat second behind Vine, crashed out and suffered several stable thoracic vertebrae compression fractures. In a separate crash, fellow UAE teammate Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) also abandoned the race, suffering from a rib injury.