BERGA, Spain (AP) — British rider Tom Pidcock has pulled out of the Volta a Catalunya race a day after crashing and falling down a ravine after misjudging a corner.
“Due to his crash he suffered injuries, most likely bone and ligament damage in particular to his right knee and also right wrist,” Lorenz Emmert, the chief medical doctor of the Pinarello-Q36.5 team, said Saturday. “Unfortunately we had to make the decision to take him out of the race. Further clinical evaluation and imaging will follow in the next days.”
Pidcock, a two-time Olympic champion in cross-country mountain bike racing, crashed toward the end of Friday’s stage when he had what the team described as “a significant fall down a ravine.” He was able to resume and finish the stage “despite the severity of the crash,” and the team said the initial assessments of his injuries were reassuring.
Pidcock said he misjudged the corner while taking a drink on the descent.
“It was like one of these horror crashes you see, but I am OK. I’ll go for a check, but I think I’m OK,” he said afterward.
He wanted to start Saturday’s penultimate stage from Berga to Queralt but ultimately assessments with the team’s medical staff and at the hospital decided otherwise.
“We did everything to try to make it to the start but it’s not possible,” Pidcock said. “I fought to finish the stage yesterday to make sure I had the option to continue. Now the focus is on recovery, and I’ll be back.”
Jonas Vingegaard was leading the general classification standings after five stages in the 105th edition of the seven-stage race.
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FILE - Gold medalist England's Thomas Pidcock celebrates his victory in the men's cross-country cycling mountain bike race at the European Championships in Munich, Germany, on Aug. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Ukraine seeks to use its drone expertise to help Gulf Arab states blunt Iran's attacks during the war in the Middle East.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has already signed 10-year security agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and expects to shortly finalize a similar agreement with the UAE.
Ukraine has quickly grown into one of the world’s leading producers of cutting-edge, battle-tested drone interceptors that are cheap and effective. They are playing a key part in its defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.
In return for its aid to Gulf countries, Ukraine is seeking more high-end air-defense missiles that they possess and that Kyiv needs to counter Russia’s attacks. On Thursday, Zelenskyy visited Saudi Arabia, and last week, he said that Ukraine is looking into whether it can play a role in restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy and Emirati state media reported on a meeting between the Ukrainian president and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss regional security amid the Iran war.
Zelenskyy later posted on X to say that he had moved on to Doha and met with Qatari leaders, including with the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The Ukrainian and Qatari ministers of defense signed cooperation agreements in the defense sector and defense investments, according to the Qatar Ministry of Defense.
“Real security is built on partnership — we value everyone and remain open to supporting all those who are ready to work together for this goal,” Zelenskyy wrote alongside a video of himself disembarking a plane in Qatar.
The war in the Middle East erupted on Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran. The Islamic Republic retaliated with strikes against Israel and the Gulf Arab States and the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway. The war has upended global travel and sent oil prices soaring as its economic fallout extended well beyond the region.
Last week, Zelenskyy revealed that Kyiv is helping five countries — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — counter Tehran’s drone strikes on their territory.
“For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere,” he said on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader.
He added they had discussed “the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market”.
Zelenskyy told reporters that his government is seeking to build long-term strategic ties with Middle Eastern countries, including joint production, investment, energy cooperation and the sharing of battlefield experience.
“Simple sales do not interest us,” he said at a live briefing held on Zoom.
While Ukraine remains short of high-end air defence systems, such as Patriot missiles, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has developed an “integrated” defense model that effectively protects against Iranian-made Shahed drones.
Tehran sent large numbers of the attack drones to Russia early in the war. Since then, Moscow has modified them to improve their effectiveness, begun domestic production, and repeatedly launched the drones in waves at Ukrainian cities.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is offering Gulf Arab partners “combat-tested” expertise, and has already signed 10-year security deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The agreement with Qatar involves “joint defense industry projects, the establishment of coproduction facilities, and technological partnerships between companies," Zelenskyy said in an X post.
At a media briefing, the Ukrainian leader said that he expects a similar agreement with the UAE to follow shortly.
He also told reporters that Ukraine had received “no signals" from the U.S. about potential diversions of weapons, including those funded by Kyiv's European partners, from Ukraine to the Middle East.
His comments followed weeks of speculation that the Iran war could detract attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and force NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv.
Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, brought on by damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf and Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point.
Russia launched more than 270 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least five people, Ukrainian authorities reported on Saturday.
Two people were killed and at least 11 more were wounded in a nighttime Russian drone strike on Odesa, according to the head of the region, Serhii Lysak. According to Lysak’s Telegram posts, the attack damaged a maternity hospital and private houses in the major Black Sea port city.
Zelenskyy said that the “massive” strike on Odesa involved more than 60 drones.
Russia's overnight strikes also killed two men and wounded two other people in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine, after a drone hit an industrial facility, regional head Oleksandr Gandzha said in a Telegram update. He didn't specify what the industrial building was.
One person was killed overnight in the Poltava region, also in central Ukraine, as Russia struck industrial sites there, regional authorities reported on Saturday. Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said that a production facility was hit.
According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched 273 drones at Ukraine during the night, 252 of which were downed or electronically jammed.
In Russia, a child died after a Ukrainian drone hit a private house in Russia’s western Yaroslavl region, local Gov. Mikhail Evraev reported early Saturday. According to Evraev’s Telegram post, the child’s parents were hospitalized with serious injuries after the attack.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that 155 Ukrainian drones were shot down during the night over Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacts during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, March 17, 2026.(Suzanne Plunkett, Pool Photo via AP)
