UAE Team Emirates-XRG names Tim Wellens to lead CRO Race title defence

UAE Team Emirates-XRG has announced its seven-man lineup for the CRO Race, with Tim Wellens set to lead the team's title defence. The race runs from Tuesday, 22 September through Sunday, 27 September in Croatia, and the Emirati squad goes in as defending champions after winning the overall title in the last two seasons.

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The team will start in Split for the third consecutive year, guided by sports directors Andrej Hauptman and Jan Polanc. Polanc finished fifth overall at the race in 2017, during UAE Team Emirates-XRG's debut season on the road.

The team also says it has taken three stage victories at that edition and has since added three more stage wins, along with overall wins through Brandon McNulty in 2024 and 2025. McNulty will not be at the CRO Race because he is in Montréal for the UCI World Road Race Championships.

In his place, Wellens will handle the general classification push after recently winning the general classification at the Tour of Britain. Wellens said it is his second participation at the CRO Race and that he wants to go for the overall classification, while also stressing that the team wants to remain competitive every day.

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Wellens will be joined in Croatia by Sebastián Molano, who won a stage at the race in 2024, as well as Luca Giaimi, Julius Johansen, Domen Novak, Rui Oliveira and Nils Politt. The route begins on Tuesday with stage 1 from Split to Seget over 167.4km, including two category two climbs late in the day and a final test at Kovačevići about 21km from the finish.

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