Adam Yates, who finished second in the last Dauphiné, broke away with his brother on the descent of the Pike hill, 9 kilometers from the finish, to win with a four-second lead, ahead of his twin brother. Simon Yates, who rides for Team Jayco-AlUla. It is, at 30, the first stage victory on the Grande Boucle for Adam Yates who had already worn the yellow jersey for four days in 2020.
His Slovenian teammate Tadej Pogacar sprinted a small group of favorites who arrived twelve seconds later.
The favorites neutralize each other
The two main Tour de France favorites, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar have neutralized each other. They crossed the fearsome Pike hill (2 km at 10%) in the lead in the company of Frenchman Victor Lafay, but without really attacking each other.
At one point, the Slovenian, who is coming back from a broken wrist, nodded to ask his Danish rival to take over, but the latter shook his head.
In the descent to Bilbao, Adam Yates, who was promoted to co-leader of the UAE team, took the opportunity to launch the offensive and get the stage as well as the ten bonus seconds promised to the leader.
Pogacar also raised his arms as he crossed the line, to salute his teammate’s victory. Third in the stage, he also pocketed four bonus seconds. The Slovenian arrived at the head of a small group in which appeared, in addition to Vingegaard, the French David Gaudu and Thibaut Pinot, or even Wout Van Aert.
The falls of Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz.
The two big losers of the day are the Spaniard Enric Mas, who retired after a fall on the descent of the penultimate climb of the day, falling at the same time as another contender for the podium, Richard Carapaz.
The Ecuadorian was able to restart but lost all hope for the general classification after being on the ground for long minutes.
► The classification of the 1st stage (and general classification), in Bilbao, Saturday July 1
1. Adam Yates (GBR/UAD) down 182.0 km in 4 h 22 : 49. (average : 41.7 km/h)
2. Simon Yates (GBR/JAY) at 4 sec.
3. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) 12 s.
4. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/GFC)
5. Michael Woods (CAN/IPT)
6. Victor Lafay (FRA/COF)
7. Jai Hindley (AUS/BOH)
8. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN/TFS)
9. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TJV)
10. David Gaudu (FRA/GFC) all at the same time
► Sunday July 2: the profile of the 2nd stage
The profile of the 2nd stage of the Tour de France, Sunday July 2, 2023, between Vitoria and San Sebastian. / Visactu
