Yates twins team up in Spanish Stage 1

BILBAO, Spain — The Tour de France began with a family celebration in Basque Country.

Adam Yates pulled away from his twin brother, Simon Yates, to win the Tour’s first stage Saturday, with race favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finishing not far behind.

The Yates brothers escaped to the front with about four miles to go, and Adam had the strongest finish to take the initial yellow jersey in the three-week race that began in northern Spain.

Adam and Simon Yates ride for different teams but joined forces to break away from the pack. Adam eventually pulled away in a final uphill last quarter of a mile.

Cycling’s biggest race is taking place amid continued unrest in France after a fourth night of riots triggered by the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old by police.

Pogacar, the two-time Tour de France champion who is teammates with Adam Yates at UAE Team Emirates, finished third after leading a group of chasers that also included Vingegaard, the defending champion of team Jumbo-Visma.

Pogacar had a strong start to the season but had to undergo wrist surgery after a crash two months ago. Vingegaard, the former fish factory worker from Denmark, was runner-up to Pogacar in his first Tour two years ago then came out on top in a thrilling battle with his Slovenian rival last year, building his triumph on two big rides in the Alps and the Pyrenees.

Pogacar appeared to have most of the crowd support in Bilbao after pleasing them in the race presentation with some words praising the city and local soccer club Athletic Bilbao.

The first two stages are taking place in Basque Country, with the opening day taking riders through a hilly 182-kilometer (113-mile) route that started and finished in the city of Bilbao.

Two of the top riders, Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz, had to pull out after crashing with just over 12 miles to go.

American Neilson Powless of team EF Education-EasyPost took the red polka dot jersey for best climber. The 110th edition of the Tour de France will include a record 30 difficult climbs over 3,405 kilometers (2,116 miles).