Adam Yates has won the opening stage of the 2023 Tour de France after an enthralling day of racing that saw the biggest race of the year open with a bang.
The 2023 Tour de France starts on one of cycling's sacred lands, the Basque Country. The opening day is 183 kilometres in length and suits the puncheurs, and of course the climbers. It will be a day when the overall classification battle could be commenced, a different scenario for a Tour de France Grand Depart.
The pace was high right from the flag drop. A strong, five-rider breakaway rode clear that included Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Simon Guglielmi (Team Arkéa Samsic), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto Dstny), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies).
The break was never allowed off the leash though, with the gap never extended to more than two minutes.
At the intermediate sprint, the breakaway took the first five positions. Behind though, those riders keen on taking the Green Jersey in Paris began to make themselves known. Mads Pedersen and Peter Sagan taking the first two places from the peloton at the intermediate sprint.
With just over 50km and three categorised climbs to go, the breakaway was caught by the raging peloton.
The pace at the front of the peloton remained incredibly high as multiple teams tried their hardest to get to the ideal position.
Mikkel Bjerg was setting an infernal pace for UAE Team Emirates at the front as they ascended the Côte de Vivero with Tadej Pogacar looking to send an early message to his rivals as plenty of riders began to struggle at the back of the bunch.
Among those dangling at the back were Alexey Lutsenko and Pello Bilbao, two rather surprising names to be struggling so early.
On the descent two further riders were then seemingly ruled out of GC contention as a crash brought down both Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz. Mas sadly being forced to abandon.
Then on the final categorised climb of the day, the race ignited. Adam Yates setting up an attack from Tadej Pogacar. Unsurprisingly, Jonas Vingegaard was glued to his wheel. More surprisingly perhaps, Victor Lafay was the only other rider alongside them.
As they entered the final 3km, there was a leading duo of both Adam Yates and Simon Yates with a lead of around 16 seconds ahead of a small group of favourites including Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Onto the final, brutal, kick up to the line and Adam was leading with Simon unable to hold his wheel. Victory it was for the UAE Team Emirates rider, living up to his billing as joint leader of the team with Tadej Pogacar.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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