Adam Yates beats twin brother Simon to win Tour de France first stage
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UAE Team Emirates' Adam Yates crosses the finish line to win Stage 1 of the Tour de France.
REUTERS
BILBAO – Adam Yates of UAE Team Emirates won the opening stage of the Tour de France in Bilbao on Saturday to claim the first yellow jersey of the race, outsprinting his twin brother Simon Yates of Jayco.
The British twins broke free at the top of the final climb, with two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar coming in third at the end of the 182km circuit starting and ending in the Basque County in Spain.
“I don’t even know what to say, it’s just amazing. I am super happy,” said Adam, who finished in 4hr 22min 49sec.
“My brother came across to me and then we started working 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 knew Simon was going good, I speak to him every day, we are really close and yeah just sharing this experience with him is really nice.
“I just wish he would have pulled up a bit easier because he almost dropped me at one moment.”
His teammate Pogacar, one of the big favourites for the Tour alongside Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard, finished ahead of Thibaut Pinot of Groupama-FDJ and Israel-Premier Tech’s Michael Woods.
“I want to keep my feet on the ground because we’re here for Tadej and he’s the boss,” added Adam.
“Over the next few weeks, I’m sure he’s going to show a lot.
“I’m sure people doubted having two guys as leaders. I might be a leader, but more in support. Over the next few weeks I’m 100 per cent for Tadej.”
According to the BBC, 30-year-olds Adam and Simon are the first brothers to achieve a one-two finish in a Tour stage since Andy and Frank Schleck in 2011.
Overall, Adam leads his brother by eight seconds after picking up 10 seconds for the stage win, while Pogacar is 18 seconds off the pace.
Earlier, Movistar Team’s Enric Mas became the first of the 176 riders on this edition of the Tour to abandon the race, after he crashed heavily on a descent some 22km from the finish.
The Spaniard, a three-time Vuelta a Espana runner-up who finished fifth overall on the Tour in 2020, fell off his bike alongside Richard Carapaz, one of the other podium contenders.
Ecuadorian Carapaz, from the EF Education team, managed to climb back on his bike after being attended to by race doctors.
AFP, REUTERS
