Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Laurens Naessen (AG2R Citroen) underwent surgery for a broken collarbone after crashing at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday.

"Laurens Naessen, who crashed in the first few kilometers of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, will undergo surgery this evening for multiple fractures of his collarbone. After the race, AG2R Citroën announced in a medical update that "the length of his absence will be announced later."

Nessen was replaced by Stan de Wolff, who raced for the AG2R Citroën team on Sunday in the Coure Brussel-Coone.

It is not known where Nessen crashed on the Omloop Het Niusbrod course, but there were two major crashes, the first with 55 km remaining in the elite men's 204.2 km race between Ghent and Ninove.

The crash included Luke Durbridge (Bike Exchange), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal), and Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates). Covi and Durbridge did not finish the race, but both returned to Couleurs Brussel-Coulomb.

The second crash in which Gaviria was involved involved involved several riders with 41 km to go. Video footage showed Gaviria crashing onto the pavement and sitting in the roadway with pain in his left shoulder. After being treated by medical support at the side of the road, Gaviria was taken to the hospital for further examination and treatment.

"Unfortunately, after today's crash at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, we have confirmed that Fernando Gaviria has broken his collarbone and will undergo surgery. Get well soon Fernando," UAE Team Emirates announced in a medical update.

Gaviria started the season well with two wins at the Tour of Oman earlier this month. However, he was ruled out of the February 20-26 Tour of the UAE after testing positive for COVID-19 for the third time in two years.