Then they drove the last meters, 350 more. And then the twin brothers parted. One, Adam Yates, outperformed the other, Simon Yates, and won the first stage of this year’s Tour de France. The five-minute older, who drives for Team UAE as the first assistant to Tadej Pogacar, one of the two big favorites in the 110th Tour of France, made a debut together with his brother. Never before had a pair of brothers finished first and second on the tour.
The Briton Adam Yates, 30 years old, is wearing yellow for the second round, the second stage, which this Sunday leads over 208 kilometers from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastian. Even for Pogacar, despite being twelve seconds behind, a few seconds jumped out at the end. He sprinted into third from a small group of pursuers, easily outperforming Wout van Aert, who was attempting to climb onto the podium in his place to keep his captain, last year’s Danish winner Jonas Vingegaard, on course.
Vingegaard eventually finished ninth, tying the same time as Pogacar, but because the Slovenian was credited with the bonus seconds for third place, he was able to raise his arms and celebrate third place at the finish. Four seconds now ahead of his great rival Vingegaard is a breath of fresh air, but Pogacar had previously announced that he would take every second he had in the quest for victory at the Tour, perhaps doing exactly they end up making the difference.
This first stage was not an overwhelming triumph for Pogacar and his team. But she was a statement that gave Vingegaard some brain teasers to last year’s dominant team Jumbo-Visma. It wasn’t in control of the stage this time as things got serious in the final kilometers and as a result lost the stage win and also a few seconds to Pogacar. Vingegaard and his team strategists had to recognize that Adam Yates, who joined Pogacar from Team Ineos Grenadiers, could play a crucial role.
The fact that Yates won this stage made it clear that Team UAE can now actually drive with a double lead as planned and Pogacar no longer has to play the sole entertainer. It is still clear that Pogacar is the boss. Yates had received the green light over the radio for his fraternal duet with seven kilometers to go and he was given a free ride. “It’s great to share this experience with my brother,” he said at the finish. “I’m really happy, but I want to keep my feet on the ground. I’m here for Tadej, he’s the boss.”
Pogacar himself, who had only returned to racing a week and a half ago after a protracted injury, had made a strong impression on this first stage. The stage was tough and designed by the route planners to separate the best from the rest with two short but painfully steep climbs in the final thirty kilometers.
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Vingegaard was more hesitant than his competitor, who attacked at the steepest point on the Côte de Pike eleven kilometers before the finish line and also tore a hole to Vingegaard, but then let it be and played Yates’ card. Pogacar then showed again that he was to be expected with an explosive start in the last few meters, which gave him the four seconds he had speculated on. The first round, that much can be said, went to Pogacar and his team on points.
Jai Hindley, the captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe, finished seventh. His first helper, Emanuel Buchmann, finished in a larger group in 33 seconds. You can build on that. For a rider who could have finished in the top 10 overall, the Tour is already over. Enric Mas (Team Movistar) had to give up the Tour after a fall on a descent 25 kilometers from the finish with a shoulder injury.
