After his coup at the start of the 110th Tour de France, Adam Yates does not dream of overall victory. “I’m keeping my feet on the ground. I’m here for Tadej, he’s the boss,” said the Briton after his victory on the first stage in Bilbao. Yates is scheduled in the UAE team as a noble helper to two-time overall winner Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian was third on the first leg and thus gained four bonus seconds over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.
After the success in front of his twin Simon, Yates does not see the tasks in the team being redistributed in any way. “Tadej has already shown that he is the best in the world and I’m sure he will do it again in the coming weeks,” said the Brit. “I’m not a leader, I’m here to support. And if I can support by putting pressure on others, then that’s good. But I’m 100 percent here for Tadej.”
Pogacar tried to break away from Vingegaard on the last climb before Bilbao. But the Dane followed the climb up the more than 15 percent steep incline to the Cote de Pike without any major difficulties. This is the first indication that Vingegaard has actually improved in terms of explosiveness.
With Pogacar, on the other hand, the relief should have been great that his scaphoid fracture, which had not yet fully healed, no longer caused him any problems. “The hand felt good. My engine starts slowly,” said the 24-year-old. His successful hunt for the bonus seconds at the finish should also motivate him.
After his fall in April, Pogacar had not competed in a race for two months and had not been able to train on the bike for a long time. Only a week before the tour, he had made his comeback at the Slovenian championships and won both the time trial and the road race in a superior manner.