Tim Wellens soars over 50 kilometres solo to win Clásica Jaén

Tim Wellens soared to a storming 54km solo victory at the Clásica Jaén after the Belgian champion dropped his nearest competitor Mark Donovan (Pinarello - Q36.5). Once alone, Wellens motored to the line, outpowering the chasing group behind to win by 48 seconds.

Tom Pidcock (Pinarello - Q36.5) won the sprint for second ahead of Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but the Swiss rider would later be disqualified for deviating from his line and causing Maxime Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) to crash as they dashed for the line. Another UAE rider, Benoît Cosnefroy, was promoted to third place as a result.

Wellens' victory was UAE's 12th since the start of the year and their 14th according to the UCI's 2026 calendar, which began in November.

The day began with a ferocious tempo, and it took more than 50km for the first break to get any real traction. Quinten Hermans (Pinarello - Q36.5) and Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) were two of the five riders in a group up the road, but their advantage would only last just over 10km, and they were brought back just before the riders took on the first gravel sector of the day.

The race was torn apart after 70km, leaving just under 30 riders in the front group. Surprisingly, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) was not a part of said group, although he had three teammates situated within it, and he would later bridge up.

Tim Wellens (UAE) and Mark Donovan (Q36.5) went clear and built the biggest gap of the day, opening a margin of over 30 seconds to the ever-swelling group behind. Donovan tried an attack Wellens with 55km to go, but the Belgian simply reeled in the Briton and then rode away from him.

Wellens pushed on, building a one-minute advantage over the group of chasers behind, and it appeared that he was going to hold the gap all the way to the finish line, as there was a real lack of cohesion in the chasing group behind.

Inside the last 15km, pre-race favourite Tom Pidcock launched a move to try to claw back Wellens, but the Belgian was long over the horizon. Pidcock had company in the form in his chase in the form of Van Gils and Wellens' teammate Christen.

With Christen sitting on, they struggled to make inroads into Wellens' winning margin, which would stand at 48 seconds come the finish. Pidcock would win the sprint for second ahead of Christen and the unfortunate Van Gils. But despite Christen's disqualification, the day still belonged to Wellens and UAE.