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It was a day of seeing double for the Yates’ family at the Tour de France, as twin brothers Adam and Simon fought out the stage win and first yellow jersey of the 2023 edition.
Adam accelerated way in the final few hundred metres to win the stage after the pair had escaped an elite group of favourites following attacks on the steep, short climbs of the Basque region.
“At first, I didn’t know if I should work with him, I asked on the radio and they said, yeah, go for it,” said Adam Yates.
“I knew he was going good, I speak to him every day. We’re really close and to share this experience with him is very nice. I wish he would pull a bit easier, because he almost dropped on a few moments. I’m just super happy.”
Adam Yates moves into the yellow jersey with a margin of eight seconds over his brother, 18 seconds ahead of teammate Pogacar, the two-time Tour de France winner trailing the rider touted as his co-leader pre-race. Adam Yates was quick to play down his leadership role despite moving into yellow.
“I just want to keep my feet on the ground,” said Adam Yates. “We’re here with Tadej the boss, he’s shown before he’s the best in the world.
“Some people doubted having two guys as leader, I’m not really a leader I’m still more in support, and if doing this can put the other teams under pressure. Like I said, over the next few weeks, I’m all for Tadej, I’m sure we’ll do a good job.”
The breakaway was never given much leeway, with the peloton keen to keep the race close together and the chance at the first yellow jersey intact.
The breakaway was even denied a jersey, with the race coming back together before the climb of the Cote de Vivero, which was summited first by Neilson Powless (EF Education EasyPost) to claim the first polka dot jersey.
UAE Team Emirates made a point of trying to make the climbs in the back half of the race hard, sacrificing riders on the short, steep ascents of the Basque region through throngs of yelling fans. The Cote de Pike, summiting with just under 10 kilometres to go, proved to be the explosive point of the race, with Adam Yates attacking and forcing clear an elite group including Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Victor Lafay.
Neither of the winners of the past three Tours de France was able to break the other, which allowed some of the other contenders to come back, with Adam Yates sweeping past in an immediate attack, which twin brother Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) saw and matched.
The twin brothers were free at the front of the race and worked well to build a slender lead heading into the final rise to the line, with Adam stronger in the final few hundred metres, dropping Simon with his surge to the finish, able to celebrate the victory and the first yellow jersey of the race.
Simon Yates was second, with Pogacar winning the sprint for the final bonus seconds on offer on the finish line, celebrating his teammate’s victory with an exuberant salute.
