Tour de France 2023: Adam Yates beats brother Simon in British 1-2 on opening stage

Adam Yates will wear the yellow jersey having won the opening stage of the Tour de France in Bilbao, beating twin brother Simon to the victory.

A quite incredible day for the Yates family, both brothers escaping the front of the race over the top of the Côte de Pike, building a lead on the descent, before serving up a head to head on the rise to the line, Adam distancing Simon in the final couple of hundred metres.

Yates squared!!! 🇬🇧

Adam wins his first Tour de France stage and beats his twin brother Simon to take the first yellow jersey 💛#TDF2023 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/SjDedqQcae

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 1, 2023

Behind, Adam's teammate Tadej Pogačar won the sprint for third and took four bonus seconds on defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.

"I honestly don't know what to say," an elated Adam said afterwards. "We tried to set the climb up for Tadej. It was headwind on the descent, I tried my best, my brother came across to me and we stayed away until the end. At first I didn't know if I should work with him. I asked on the radio and they said 'yeah go for it'. Speechless.

"I knew he [Simon] was going good. I speak to him every day. We're really close and to share this experience with him is really nice... but I wish he would pull a bit easier because he almost dropped me!

"I had the yellow jersey a few years ago, in the Covid year 2020, but really I just want to keep my feet on the ground. We're here for Tadej — the boss. He's shown before he's the best in the world and over the next few weeks I'm sure he is going to show it."

[Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com]

An understandably more disappointed Simon said: "It was tricky getting into the climb, it wasn't easy against teams who have the numbers, it was a bit difficult to position ourselves.

"I was caught a bit behind when UAE made the first push and I couldn't get round because the crowds were so big. I grovelled my way across at the last, there was a bit of cat and mouse across the top and Adam came back.

"He sort of rolled to the front and gave Pogačar the nod like: 'Can I go?' I went across to him and that's all she wrote.

"At first when he saw it was me he was put in a difficult situation because he asked on the radio straight away. He wasn't pulling straight away but I kind of knew that, it was tricky. I had to take an opportunity, normally in a finish like that I wouldn't beat Pogačar or Vingegaard in a real fast sprint, but to go away with Adam there's a chance.

"Pretty close. I had some cramps in the final, really humid day, unfortunately he got the better of me but I'm sure there are more chances coming up."

The stage had been challenging from the off, numerous Basque climbs whittling down the peloton as the sprinters and many more settled for a more comfortable pace.

A crash saw Enric Mas' podium hopes ended early, the Spaniard abandoning the race. Richard Carapaz, also involved, limped home more than 15 minutes behind the Yates twins and will surely now reset his focus to stage wins, if he is able to continue tomorrow.

Carapaz's teammate Neilson Powless will wear the polka dot jersey tomorrow, while Simon Yates will be in green, and Pogačar in white.