Tour de France – Stage 1: Adam Yates wins against his twin brother Simon in Bilbao

[ad_1]

Photo 1 of 19

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) wins stage one of the 2023 Tour de France in Bilbao, Spain (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Riders zip through the Basque crowds (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Tadezh Pogacar is closely followed by his rivals (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the Cote de Pike (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X), Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) were part of the breakaway On stage one (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) in the first yellow jersey of the 2023 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) in the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) in the first yellow jersey of the 2023 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images) Tadezh Pogacar in the white jersey (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Nelson Pauwels won the polka dot Dutt (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) looked serious at the start (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Matteo van der Poel before the first stage of the Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Thibaut Pino ( Groupama-FDJ) ready for their final Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) The Tour de France begins! (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Esteban Chavez on the big screen before the Grand Depart (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) A young fan stands above the crowd (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) EF-EasyPost on the big screen (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny) pushes the pace of the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) The peloton on stage 1 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Adam Yates (UAE UAE Team Emirates) beat his brother Simon Yates (Jaico-Alola) to the first yellow jersey in the Tour de France after they ran together after the Côte de Paix in the stage one finish to Bilbao.

The duo held off an elite group of 13 chasers in the final 9km before Adam Yates pulled Simon’s last to the line to claim the stage victory by four seconds.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) won the sprint for third place by 12 seconds, and the Slovenian crossed the line with his arms raised high. He was celebrating his teammate winning the yellow jersey of course, but he would also be happy to get an early reward from defending champion Jonas Vinggaard (Jumbo-Visma).

An exciting racing afternoon saw a high rate of attrition in the general classification race. Enric Mas (Movistar) was forced out by the same crash that saw Richard Caparaz (EF Education-EasyPost) lose 15 minutes, while Egan Bernal (Ineos), Romain Bardet (DSM) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R) all lost. Citroën) more. More than half a minute when they pulled away from the final climb.

Inevitably, Pogacar and Vingegaard were on top at the conclusion of the toughest opening stage in living memory. On Pike’s short climb, Team UAE smashed an already reduced peloton, with only Vingegaard and Victory Lafay (Cofidis) able to match the pace of Adam Yates and Pogacar.

Vingegaard finished second behind Pogacar at the summit before the strongest of the chasers could scramble on the back over the summit. When Adam Yates did a speculative search for the false flat above the other side, his brother didn’t hesitate to follow through, and they quickly built a 10-second lead.

Jumbo-Visma’s Wilko Kelderman and Sepp Kos led the chase group to support Wout van Aert and Vingegaard, with Thibaut Pinot, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) also on board, But they were unable to make significant inroads for the Yates brothers.

Photo 1 of 4

Adam Yates looks back to see he knocked down his brother Simon Yates (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) on his way to victory (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Adam Yates celebrates victory in the first stage of the Tour de France ( Image source: Getty Images Sport) Tadej Pogacar of the chasing group celebrates after his teammate Adam Yates won the stage (Image source: Getty Images Sport)

Adam proved he was the stronger of the duo as he hit the road again in the final kilometer, sprinting wide within sight of the line to win the first Grand Tour stage of his career and move into the yellow jersey.

“I don’t even know what to say, we tried the climb for Tadeg. He attacked but then there was a headwind on the descent,” Adam Yates said afterwards. “I came back from the back and then my brother ran into me and then we started together. At first, I didn’t know if I should work with him. I asked on the radio and they said, “Yeah, go for it.” I can not Talk.”

Prior to the race, UAE team principal Mauro Giannetti had indicated that Yates would start as co-captain due to uncertainty over Pogacar’s fitness after breaking his wrist in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The Slovenian looked easy on his first test here, but Yeats certainly offers the UAE a great tactical option. With the winner’s time bonus counting, he has a 22-second lead over Vingegaard in the general classification, while Pogacar is third overall with a time of 18 seconds after gaining the seconds offered for third place.

“I want to keep my feet on the ground,” said Adam Yates. “We are here for Tadej, the boss. He has shown that he is the best in the world and over the next few weeks, I am sure he will show that.”

The grand opening for this tour, however, belongs to the Yates twins. Simon, who skipped the Giro d’Italia for the first time since 2017 in preparation for this race, showed his form by carving up important ground over the top of Pike.

“I was a little late when the Emirates made the initial push and I couldn’t turn around because the crowds were so big, but that’s how it goes,” said Simon Yates, who then found himself farther up the front with his brother.

“When he saw I was coming, I think he was put in a difficult position, and he asked over the radio, ‘Can I make a move?'” “Normally at a finish like this I wouldn’t beat Pogacar or Vingegaard or those guys in a sprint. To get away with Adam, there might have been a chance. Unfortunately, he outsprinted me but there are more chances to come.”

How did it unfold

Photo 1 of 7

The ribbon is cut for the opening stage of the 2023 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Kilometer zero marks the official start of the race (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Basque fans cheer the riders (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) The Tour de France kicked off amid Widespread civil unrest after a teenager was shot and killed by police in Paris (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Breakaway riding along the bay (Image credit: Getty Images) Pascal Einkorn leads the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Simon Gugliemi leads the Escape Today (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

The Grand Départ brought the Tour to one of cycling’s greatest bastions and, as always in this corner of the world, the Basque faithful turned out in their thousands to welcome the great cycling event. After the peloton was waved away from Stade San Mamés, Basque football’s cathedral, the race proceeded to work its way through some of cycling’s Basque sanctuaries, capturing the Laoquez climb and the San Juan de Gaztelugatx in the opening kilometres.

A five-man break featuring Lillian Calmagane (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) escaped early in the building with a maximum lead of 2:30, but the fast pace of the peloton means they are never likely to surprise.

With Jumbo-Visma and Alpecin-Dekonink particularly poised to head the pack, the two escapees were swept away with 50km to go, ahead of the Col de Morga.

The pace of that climb saw first pick, as most of the sprinters dropped straight away. On the next Alto del Vivero, all too familiar from the Basque province of Ezulia, Miquel Bérig took over the lead for his leader Pogacar, and set an overly brisk pace that split the peloton even further.

As Bjerg swung halfway up the climb, Jumbo-Visma collectively rallied to the front on Vingegaard’s behalf, as shadow-boxing continued between two crushing Tour favorites before Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) won the race for the mountains points at the top to secure a period Short in the polka dot shirt.

On the flip side, however, the EF Education-EasyPost tour took a disastrous turn, when Carapaz crashed badly on landing in company with Enric Mas (Movistar). Although Carapaz was remembered very carefully, he lost more than a quarter of an hour, while Mass became the first rider to give up the race.

Touring is tough work, but it’s also relentless. Ahead, the race for the yellow jersey was already heating up, with Pogacar and Vingegaard exchanging their first blows in the three weeks.

There will, of course, be more to come, but there has already been significant collateral damage to some of their competitors. At this rate, Sunday’s tough second stage to San Sebastian should reveal more.

results

Results powered by FirstCycling

[ad_2]