Adam Yates won the start of the Tour de France in Bilbao. © APA/afp / THOMAS SAMSON

Adam Yates wins tour opener ahead of his twin brother

The Tour de France began this Saturday with a spectacular race in the Basque Country. In the end, neither Tadej Pogacar nor Jonas Vingegaard took the yellow jersey, but Briton Adam Yates, who left his twin brother Simon behind in the final meters.

July 01, 2023

From: tu/dpa

Adam Yates won the opening stage of the 110th Tour de France ahead of his twin brother Simon Yates and took the first yellow jersey. The Brit won on Saturday after 182 kilometers with start and finish in Bilbao by four seconds. Third place went to two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, who secured four bonus seconds in the duel with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.

Nevertheless, the winners of the last three Tours of France (2x Pogacar and 1x Vingegaard) remain the favorites. The two are expected to fight over who gets to ride the historic yellow jersey to Paris. The remaining team leaders are only given small outside chances. Adam Yates, who recently moved from the Ineos Grenadiers to the UAE team, Pogacar's team, also confirmed in the winner's interview that the battles within the team have been clarified: “Tadej is the boss. It’s incredible to start the Tour with a win and be able to wear the yellow jersey, but ultimately I will give everything for my captain.”

Pogacar (left) was happy about the stage win together with his teammate Adam Yates. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

The first stage was bitter, especially for the debutant Enric Mas (Movistar) from Spain and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (EF Education – Easypost) from Ecuador. Both were involved in a fall. Carapaz was able to continue the race, but is already out of reach of the yellow jersey (+15,24 minutes). Mas couldn't get back on the bike and ended up standing on the side of the road, lost and disappointed. Both were considered podium contenders in the overall standings behind the two big dominators Vingegaard and Pogacar.

The tour's guest appearance in Spain continues on Sunday with the second stage over 208,9 kilometers from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastian. Then there will be five mountain classifications again, which will suit the classics specialists.